Forever In My Life
by shelizabeth
Summary: Charming gets Emma to the wardrobe, leaving Snow alone to have an unexpected twin sister of Emma, a second baby that doesn't escape the curse. Mary Margaret has her newborn for 10 timeless years, until Regina decides she wants a baby and lifts the curse off Hannah to raise her. 20 year old Emma returns.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi, I don't know where this story came from, but it kinda just came out. I don't know if it will be liked or not yet... so leave some reviews and let me know if I should continue it? :)

* * *

_The way you're a part of me, I would have to relearn everything if you were to leave. _

* * *

"She's beautiful," Charming said kissing the head of his newborn daughter. Snow smiled at her husband and child.

"Charming, the wardrobe only takes one. She has to go."

"Are you mad? You're not thinking correctly."

"Charming, it's our only hope."

Charming lets a tear fall from his eyes before he reaches down to his wife and lets the weight of his entire world continue to sleep in his arms. He wants her to wake up, he wants to see her eyes one time before he loses her, but he knows it's unlikely so young. Perhaps it's better this way, he reasons. The eyes are the window to the soul, and he can't bear to look into the soul he created just to abandon.

When Regina's knights interrupt his passage to the wardrobe, he barely gives them a fleeting thought. He doesn't even fully acknowledge the danger they impose, they are nothing anymore. No one is anything meaningful now that he faces the idea of losing his daughter in only moments. He feels a sharp pain in his chest, but then it's gone. The adrenaline is too powerful. He opens the wardrobe, and he sets down his daughter, feeling so crushed by grief and guilt he can't even take in a breath. As he lifts his hands from under her, he hears crying.

"Emma, shhh. It's going to be okay. You'll find us, little savior." Charming cooes to his daughter, but her crying doesn't stop. For a brief moment, Emma's eyes flutter open, as if she understands she's leaving, but then Charming closes the door and he's left to wonder if he imagined it. Suddenly the pain of his wound comes full force, and he collapses on the ground next to the wardrobe. This is it, he thinks. I am dying. I will never see my daughter again.

"It's gone." A husky voice says, and all the guards look at each other worriedly. Charming only hears the word gone, and before his eyes shut, a small smile forms on his face. His last thought is that his perfect, brave daughter is the savior, and she'll be back.

"Charming!" Snow runs in, holding a tiny baby in her arms. "Charming," her voice sounding more like a cry.

"Ahh," the Queen's voice sounds. "I see you failed."

"Your majesty-" A black knight begins to explain Emma, but the Queen has no interest and dismisses him with her hand. He takes the cue, and quiets his mouth. Twins were a surprise to Snow herself, there's no way Regina could have known.

She doesn't know the savior got away. She doesn't know she's going to lose, Snow realizes.

"Have fun changing diapers for all eternity. My gift to you... you can keep it." Regina's laugh is malicious and Snow's face flashes with anger at her calling her daughter an it.

* * *

"_So, how do we stop it?" Snow asks through the jail cell, uncovering the cloth to reveal her face in the light of the torch._

"_That." Rumpel laughs wickedly, pointing to Snow's swelled stomach._

"_My baby?"_

"_The first born of true love will break the curse. On her 20th birthday she will return, and the final battle will begin!"_

"_20th birthday?" Snow exclaims, channeling all her anger into the crocodiled skinned monster._

"_Yes, yes, yes. In twenty years the first born of true love will return. Get her to safety. It is her destiny." Rumpel repeats, reaching his hand out to touch Snow's belly. "Yes, yes, yes. The first born." Charming swats his hand away with his sword, defensively._

"_What are we supposed to do for twenty years?" Snow gasps. "How will she know to come back?"_

"_I cannot tell you anything else." Another giggle. _

"_Let's go," Charming orders, putting his arm around Snow protectively. Normally she would fight him on this display of dominance, but she was too distracted and knew he had good intentions._

"_I want a name! You promised me her name!"_

"_Her? It's going to be a boy." Charming says, shaking his head, using this as proof in his own mind of the Dark One's falsity. _

"_Missy! Missy! You know I'm right!"_

"_Emma. Her name is Emma." Snow turns around, her voice soft._

* * *

"Hi, my sweet girl." Mary Margaret says, looking down at her daughters crib. She's awake, but not crying. She's not really a very fussy baby at all. "Are you hungry, Han?" In response, Hannah makes a cooing noise.

"You know what, Hannah, sometimes life feels so meaningless. It feels just so... stuck sometimes, don't you think?" Mary waits for a moment and looks at her daughter before continuing. "After your dad left, I felt so alone... I just feel like we're stuck in this same spot all the time. You're the only thing that gets me up in the morning, you know that?" Mary Margaret kisses the newborn's forehead. It's red and soft from blonde tufts of peach fuzz. She lets Hannah grasp her finger for a few moments.

Glancing at the time, Mary warms up a bottle and hums to her daughter. She hates dropping Hannah off with Ruby, but she loves her job teaching elementary school kids and needs the money, so she does what she has to.

"I'll see you later, cupcake. I love you." Mary Margaret promises her daughter, carrying the carseat into the diner. Almost every day Hannah stays here, so Ruby set up a disinfected spot in the back full of blankets and baby trinkets. There's really not much a newborn can do, so usually she sits in a swing out front. She gets plenty of attention until Mary gets back.

* * *

"Rumpelstiltskin. I need your services." Regina says, walking into the pawn shop assertively.

"I go by Mr. Gold now, Madame Mayor." Gold says, calmly.

"Mr. Gold," Regina spits. "I need your services."

He smiles. "What can I help you with?"

"I want a baby."

"I'm afraid I'm uninterested."

"Ew, don't be disgusting. I want to adopt a baby."

"What can I help you with?"

"Find me one?" Regina says, a tone of annoyance in her voice.

"I know one, pretty close by."

"Yes, but she's cursed." Regina explains. " I want a baby that will grow up and I can actually raise. A real baby." Her voice is most tender it's ever been, describing this desire.

"Why don't you take the curse off just the baby? She has no memories to regain. It's obvious Ms. Blanchard loves the child very much, so she loses the one thing she lives for. It's a win-win, no?"

Regina thinks for a moment, the idea swimming around in her head. "Can we do that?"

"What, remove the curse on the child only?"

"Yes."

"I have a few ideas in mind that may help you out. But nothing is free, my dear Mayor."


	2. Chapter 2

**_10 years later_**

"Hannah, what are you doing?"

"Reading." Hannah says, not taking her eyes completely off the leather bound book in front of her. She's sitting at the kitchen table, trying to focus finishing her worksheet so she can start reading. She spends most afternoons in the kitchen, mainly because her mom doesn't like her to be in her room for too long.

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes... I'm almost done. Besides, when do I not?"

"I know," Regina laughs. "I was just making sure. Hey, where did you get that?" Regina says, motioning to the giant book marked Once Upon A Time.

"Ms. Blanchard gave it to me as a gift. Isn't she lovely?" Hannah asked.

"Yes... that was very nice of her." Regina admits.

"She talks to birds, and makes houses for them. She's wonderful."

"You really think a lot of this woman, huh?"

"Oh, yes, mom. You should get to know her."

"If you say she is, I believe you." Regina responds, trying not to let the coolness show in her voice. Hannah scrunches her eyebrows at her mom.

"I know you don't like her." Hannah declares.

"Excuse me?" Regina says surpised. "You have no reason to believe any such thing."

"I know you don't and you have no good reason! That's why everyone in this town hates you!"

"Hannah Rose! Go to your room right now!"

"Fine! You can punish me until I'm in my grave, but you can't change what I think about you!" Hannah grabs her brown book before running up the giant staircase in tears. In her room, she cries even harder, wishing she could talk to Ms. Blanchard, because she'd know what to say. Missing her teacher, she dives into the book that was a gift from her. The first story is on how Snow White and Prince Charming met. The first page is how Snow hits Charming with a rock after trying to steal from him. Hannah devours the story, relishing in the idea of true love. She finishes it quickly, forgetting that less than an hour ago she was miserable and alone. She smiles sadly at the the picture of a pregnant Snow White, and realizes how tired she is. Crying is always so tiring. The last thing she thinks about before she sleeps is how loved a baby must be with Snow White and Prince Charming as parents. She drifts off dreaming of another life, one where she is wanted and loved.

* * *

_"__What do you want?" Regina spat._

_"__You know what I want."_

_"__I'm not doing that."_

_"__Then I'm afraid I can't help you." Gold said, using a cloth to resume rubbing the glass cases in his shop._

_"__Okay, how about a deal? I'll give Belle and Danielle back to you, but with new memories. Like they were always with you, here in Storybrooke."_

_"__Why not give them their real memories back?" Gold snaps._

_"__You don't want to play this game," Regina warns, her voice low. "It can lead to danger."_

_"__I know where the road leads."_

_"__Do you want Belle and Danielle or not?"_

_"__Her name is not Danielle," he snaps. "It's Cecelia."_

_"__It's Danielle, here." Regina's tone was matter-of-fact. "Do we have a deal?"_

_Gold looks at Regina, and a smirk falls on his face. Regina tries to not think much of it. "Deal."_

* * *

Regina didn't know where to turn. Her daughter was right. She wasn't well-liked at all. I guess that's a burden you must carry when you curse an entire land and then live with them for a timeless eternity. Anyway, she didn't have many friends she could talk to, and she really needed to talk to someone. She could go see the cricket, she thinks, but she decides against it. Maybe Hannah should go though. She decides to stop there on her way and make an appointment for Hannah. When she checks on her daughter, she finds her fast asleep. She calls Graham, the Sheriff, to stay at the house while she's out. Hannah's ten going on twenty, she really would be okay for an hour or two by herself, but Regina is a little too overprotective. She accepts that though, with a whole town who isn't the biggest fan of her, she can't be too careful. She can handle them of course, but it's not fair to carry her burden on to Hannah. She never asked for this.

"Mr. Gold. Hello." Regina greets formerly. "Danielle. How are you?" She says, nodding at the young girl standing next to her father.

"I'm wonderful, thank you for asking. How are you Madame Mayor?"

"Fine." Regina nods and tries to smile, a bit awkward with children.

"Danielle, why don't you take a walk to get your mother at the library and ask her if she can pick up dinner on the way home? Granny's, for a special treat. Anything you want." Mr. Gold says, handing his daughter a small stack of cash.

"Really? Thank you Daddy!" The twelve year old exclaims, kissing her father's cheek. She runs out of the pawn shop happily to find Belle. Mr. Gold smiles at his daughter and waits for her to be out of sight.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" He asks, moving his walking stick to emerge from behind the counter.

"I need help."

"I'm afraid I can't help you and you know it. I have no magic."

"Not that kind of help. I need..."

"Advice?" Mr. Gold asks at Regina's stuttering, in disbelief. Regina cringes at the word.

"Danielle loves you. She's been fine for ten years, not aging, and she's happy. How do you keep her like that?" She asks exasperated.

"Keep my daughter happy?"

"Well, yes." Regina says, not looking up at him.

"Ms. Mills, are you asking me for parenting advice?" Gold can't help but let out a snide chuckle.

"I have no one else to talk to." Regina says, narrowing her eyes. "She's unhappy. I'm doing everything I can for her, but she just... she hates me, just like everyone else."

"What do you want to do, cast a spell to make her love you?"

"I'll do what I have to."

* * *

Hannah crept downstairs to see Graham sitting on the couch. He looks distraught about something. His head was bowed, and it looked like his hands were pulling his hair out. She liked Graham a lot, and she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she thought it wasn't a good idea. She decided to sneak back upstairs, but somehow her feet moved towards the couch.

"Hi." Hannah said softly, standing next to him.

"Oh, hey little buddy. What are you up to?" Graham suddenly stood up straight.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, moving to sit down on the couch, causing Graham to move over. This got him to laugh a little.

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"I'm ten, not inept." This got Graham to let out a real laugh, which caused a smile to form on Hannah's face. "You can talk to me."

"It's nothing... it's just... I feel like something is missing, you know? All the time. It's like something inside of me is just not there. I'm sorry, bud. I shouldn't be telling you all this."

"It's okay," Hannah reassures. "I know how you feel."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Can I tell you something and you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Sure, Hannah Banana."

"I think I know who my real mom is."

"Oh yeah?" Graham asks, his eyebrows moving up to the middle of his forehead.

"You can't tell anyone... or think I'm crazy."

"Got it."

"I think my parents are from Iowa."

"Iowa?" Graham says, laughing. "Why Iowa?"

"It's in this book I'm reading. It's about this Amish family. That means they live without technology, like the old days. They don't have a microwave. I think it's neat. Well, an unmarried girl had a baby and she had to give her up because otherwise she would have got shunned from her family. But she loved her daughter so much. I think she's my mom."

"Oh, Han." Graham says sadly. "You know those stories are fiction, right? They didn't really happen."

Hannah looks heartbroken, but quickly recovers. "I know, of course. I just mean, it's possible it was a similar situation."

"You're right. Whoever gave you up, I'm sure it was because they were forced. I bet they fought tooth and nail for you. No one in their right mind would you let go." Graham says it more like a promise and pokes her belly, and somehow cracks a smile out Hannah's sunken face.

"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed now, okay?" Hannah tells him after a moment of silence.

"Sure." Graham says, as the front door opens and the darkness of the night seeps through.

"Hey Graham, I'm back. Sorry it took so long. Thanks for staying with- Han, what are you doing up?" Regina says, clearly shocked to see her daughter up sitting with the sheriff.

"We were just talking, it was my fault for keeping her up... and it was no problem. See ya later, Hannah." Graham says, getting up and moving towards the front door and Regina watches him curiously.

"Han, it's late. You should be getting ready for-" Regina is interrupted by Hannah's arms around her waist. "Oh," Regina says, surprised, hugging her back. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Mom. I'm just sorry about earlier... and I'm happy you wanted to take care of me."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey guys:) I dunno when I'll be updating again cause tomorrow is my bday so I dont know how much extra time im gonna have this weekend for writing. But definitely sometime this coming week.:) I'm trying to incorporate different storylines/characters from the show and relationships, so if you guys want to see more of a character or more time between certain characters, just let me know, because i will definitely try and make it a part of the story. If ya wanna give me a birthday present, leave me a review? ;) hehe

* * *

"That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story has ended." Mary Margaret reads the final line of _Crime and Punishment _to the comatose patient in this hospital bed and closes her hardcover book. She's been volunteering with the hospital ever since she can remember, and this John Doe has been here just as long. For some reason she always felt a special connection to this anonymous patient. She chalked it up to feelings of pity that she had never seen one other person visiting him. So on her own time, she liked to see how he was doing and read her favorite novels out loud to him. As much as she'd deny it to herself, she really had nothing else to do. She has no family, and though she was friendly with everyone in town, no real friends. She didn't mind the solitude most of the time, but occasionally it would become unbearable. John Doe got her through those days. "I'll be back tomorrow, and if not, definitely Friday," she promised. "Bye Derek." She gave him a made-up name awhile back, because John Doe felt too impersonal.

"Good afternoon, Mary Margaret." Dr. Whale motioned as Mary walked out of Derek's room.

"Good afternoon Dr. Whale." Mary Margaret responded sheepishly, but politely.

"What are you up to tonight? Anything special?"

"Oh, no. Just grading some papers probably."

"Well if you want to meet me at Granny's for dinner, I'll be there around 7pm." Dr. Whale invites, and gives a wink. Mary Margaret feels a little uncomfortable, but nods and tries to hide it. She knows she'll probably meet him. She doesn't necessarily like him, but she doesn't dislike him either. When she walks out of the hospital, the sun is so warm she can feel it on the inside of her body. She decides to stroll around the town instead of walking straight home.

"Ms. Blanchard!" A voice calls, and Mary Margaret looks for the source. "Hi! Are you going for a walk?" Hannah says, catching up to her teacher.

"I am. And what are you doing on this lovely day?"

"Well I finished all my homework except the group project with Danielle. I'm heading to her house now so we can work on it."

"Ah, the solar system one. It's a fun one... if I do say so myself."

"You're a teacher," Hannah giggles. "You have to say that."

"Oh quite the contrary, you know, I'm not really a big fan of math. But if you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it."

This causes a burst of laughter from Hannah. Mary Margaret really didn't know why it was so funny, but was then reminded why she loved children. They think the smallest things are the funniest jokes they ever heard.

"Wow, here's Danielle's place just down this street. That went by so fast. Bye Ms. Blanchard." Hannah says, giving her teacher a hug around the waist. Mary Margaret, slightly surprised at the sign of affection, returns the hug.

"Have a good day, Hannah. Study hard!" Mary Margaret says jokingly, pointing her finger.

Laughing again, Hannah walks up to Danielle's door. It's one of the biggest houses in town. It's all brown, including the front door. The opposite of her all-white house. She knocks on the door three times, then gets worried no one heard her. Is it too late to ring the doorbell? Hannah wonders. If they did hear the knock and are on their way that would just be excessive... She's still weighing her options when a beautiful brunette woman in a yellow dress opens the door.

"Hello! Hannah?" She asks.

"Uh-huh. Uh hi... Mrs. Gold."

"Belle." The woman tells her with a smile.

"That's a pretty name." Hannah tells her. For some reason, she always felt awkward calling adults by their first name. Graham was an exception.

"Why thank you, Hannah," the woman smiles. "Why don't you come in. Danielle is upstairs with all her project materials set up in her room."

"Okay. Thanks!" Hannah says, running up the staircase that rests right by the front door. There's a bunch of different doors and she realizes she doesn't know which one is Danielle's room. She knows her mom is downstairs, but she doesn't know where her dad is, and doesn't want to run the risk of opening a door to Mr. Gold. She softly taps every door softly and gets no response. Finally at the door all the way at the end of the hallway, she hears a soft yes coming from the other side.

"It's me." Hannah says, opening the door.

"Hey."

"Hey. So you got the materials?"

"Yep. I didn't know if we should include Pluto or not, but I got enough for him just in case. I always feel bad excluding him."

"Me too," Hannah giggles. "We should add him and ask for extra credit."

"Let's do it!" Danielle agrees, as if Hannah just suggested the answer to world wars.

After painting styrofoam balls and glueing toothpicks for a little over two hours, Hannah's hands and eyes start to get tired. She tries to stifle a yawn.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh. We're almost done!" Hannah says, excitedly, trying to perk up.

"Yeah! It looks good," Danielle declares.

"I agree. Hey... can I ask you something?" Hannah asks, and Danielle shrugs her shoulders. "How come you're in my class? I mean, shouldn't you be in the next grade up?"

"I didn't stay back or anything," Danielle defends. "My daddy says it was just a weird cut off date with my birthday. I dunno. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno. Sorry. Was it too personal? My mom is so strict about manners. Sorry."

"No, it's okay." Danielle thinks for a moment. "Well, can I ask you something now?"

"Sure, anything."

"What's it like to have the Mayor as your mom?"

"It's..." Hannah starts, then scrunches her face. "It's okay. She's really strict about a lot of things. And she's really overprotective. Like Ms. Blanchard gave me this book that's all about fairy tales, it's so neat, but every time I read it in front of my mom she gets all weird. Like she doesn't want me reading it."

"That is really weird..." Danielle concludes. "Do you wanna stay for dinner?"

"Will your mom be okay with it?"

"Of course. Let's go down now. I can smell it and I'm starving." Hannah's stomach rumbles at Danielle's suggestion, and she realizes she's starving. Whatever Belle is cooking really does smell awfully good.

"If you're sure she won't mind." Hannah makes one final attempt, but they're already almost at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey mom, can Hannah stay for dinner? We're almost done with the project and we just want to finish a few little things after."

"Of course, there's plenty of food here, Hannah. You're welcome anytime." Belle says smiling. She is so warm and inviting, Hannah thinks. The total opposite of Mr. Gold. She realizes Danielle is a lot like her mom, more than just being her a miniature version of her looks wise.

"Thank you... Belle." Hannah says, trying it out. It still was a little weird to say, but Belle made her feel pretty comfortable.

"Wheres Daddy?" Danielle asks her mom.

"Still at his shop, I'm afraid. It will just be us tonight again, I'm afraid. Poor Dani, stuck with her terrible mom all this time!" Belle jokes.

"Mom," Danielle laughs. "You know I don't think that!"

"I know. I was teasing." Belle taps her daughters nose with the tip of her finger.

"Is there a phone I could use to call my mom?" Hannah asks Belle, suddenly remembering that she told her mom she'd only be here for about an hour.

"Of course, in the kitchen there's one on the wall."

"Thank you," Hannah smiles gratefully. She calls her home phone number and sort of hopes nobody picks up. She expects her mom to be angry.

"Hello?" Regina answers on the second ring.

"Mom?"

"Hannah, are you still at Danielle's? I figured you were."

"Yes, I'm still here. They invited me for dinner, if that's okay."

"Sure... sure. Be home soon though."

"Okay."

"Hannah?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for calling me."

"No problem."

"I love you."

"Love you too. Bye Mom."

After dinner, Hannah and Danielle quickly returned to Danielle's room to glue on Pluto. Hannah realized she liked Danielle, and maybe they could be friends. She's never really had friends before. For some reason none of her classmates were ever in her classes the next year, and though she was friendly with them, not friendly enough to keep in touch. She never really had any real friends.

"Danielle, we should hang out again, sometime. I mean... if you want. We don't have to." Hannah said, getting up and getting her backpack to go home. She started her sentence without thinking twice about it, but then along the way found some nerves with the idea of rejection.

"Yeah! We should! This weekend there's a little book fair at the library. My mom's hosting it. There's gonna be a lot of books but there's also gonna be a ton of games and food. We should go together! We can hang out before too."

"Okay! That sounds fun. I'll ask my mom and talk to you tomorrow in school!" Hannah said excitedly, walking to the door. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she felt things were finally about to change.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I just wanted to mention a few things: Belle's name didn't change in the curse for the sole reason that I love the name Belle. That's it. Also I can't remember what else. If you have a question I'll answer it in the next chapter if you leave it in a review. Btw, thanks for reading, next chapter Emma will be introduced and the story can get going:)

* * *

"Mom, can I go to the book fair this Saturday? Danielle invited me, her mom is organizing the whole thing. Please please please." Hannah added some begging in there, because she was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and Regina was still facing the other way waiting for toast to pop, so she couldn't read her mom's face.

"The book fair?" Regina asked.

"Yes, it's at the library. I'll go to Danielle's first and we'll go together. Please mom... please."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." Regina trails off.

"Why? It's a BOOK fair. Mom shouldn't you WANT me to go to something all about books?"

"Of course, it's just-"

"You don't want me to have friends." Hannah finishes.

"Of course I want you to have friends Hannah!"

"Then why do you act like this all the time?" She knew she should put her plate in the sink at least, but she was too angry to care. She grabbed her backpack and stormed out of the kitchen and through the front door. She heard her mom sigh, and somehow it made her even madder. She slammed the front door shut behind her, knowing she was going to get in trouble for that one later.

She tried to calm down on the walk to school, but somehow everything kept feeding her fury. The way people were walking, the annoyance of the way her bag hit her back when she walked, everything was driving her crazy. She walked into school and plopped into her seat, 25 minutes before the first bell rings to begin class.

"Hannah?" Mary Margaret calls, looking up from the papers on her desk. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to get out of my house," Hannah's tone is still annoyed, but she softens a little at how gentle Ms. Blanchard sounds.

"What's wrong, Hannah? Do you want to talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Hannah starts. She does want to talk though, especially to Ms. Blanchard, she just can't admit it. Her teacher moves from behind her desk and pulls up a chair next to the desk Hannah is sitting in. When Mary Margaret places her hand on Hannah's, Hannah bursts out crying.

"I'm sorry, Hannah! Did I do something?"

"No! No, you didn't do anything," Hannah cries. "I just wish... I wish I could come live with you. I wish you could be my mom."

"Oh, Hannah," Mary Margaret says quietly, "You don't mean that."

"I do mean it!" Hannah insists. "You're the only person who's nice to me."

"Your mom loves you very much, Hannah. She just wants what's best for you."

"What's best for me is to have friends and be able to go out and be normal. I've never even left this stupid town. And you know what? Nobody has. It's like we're all just stuck here, doing nothing. Something is wrong here, Ms. Blanchard, but if I ever said that to my mom, she would seethe! She'd probably kill me before letting me leave this town." When Hannah says that, she's surprised at her own words. Mary Margaret obviously is too, as she lets out a small gasp.

"Hannah, you're hurt and alone. I understand what you're feeling, believe me. But you can't push away the people who love you. And your mom loves you very much." You have to say that, Hannah thinks. "I know you think I'm saying it because I have to, but it's true," she continues and Hannah's mouth drops just a little. "You know that book I gave you?"

"Once Upon A Time," Hannah answers, nodding and wiping under her eyes where the last evidence of her tears were.

"Have you read it yet?"

"No, not really," Hannah admits. "I haven't really gotten the chance. I read the first story, though."

"Read them all," Mary Margaret says smiling. "In them, you will find the most important thing you could ever have."

"What's that?"

"Hope. You have to believe in good and that good will always win against evil. If you're good, you'll never lose. Not in the end." Hannah smiles and hugs her teacher.

"Thank you, Ms. Blanchard."

"Of course," she replies warmly, returning the hug. Ms. Blanchard is on the good side, that is an absolute. But, Hannah thinks, good only exists when it's fighting evil. Which means there's evil, and Hannah doesn't feel apprehensive in the slightest about proving the source of it.

* * *

"Hello Hannah."

"Hello, Dr. Hopper." Hannah says, returning his tone.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Because my mom thinks I'm crazy."

"No, no, no. That's not it at all." Archie shakes his head profusely. "Nobody thinks you're crazy. It's just that... everyone has noticed you felt, maybe a bit lonely? in recent weeks." Archie offers the word lonely as if it's interchangeable.

"It's just my mom. She hates me."

"That's not true. She loves you very much, Hannah. Everyone has been noticing, your mom, the sheriff, your teacher-"

"Ms. Blanchard thinks I'm crazy?"

"No." This time Archie's tone is stern. "Everyone just wants to help you."

"I'm not lonely, Dr. Hopper. I know who my real mom is. I know who everyone is, including you."

"Who am I?" Archie says curiously.

"Jiminy Cricket."

"A cricket?" His tone is full of disbelief, and it makes Hannah even more determined to prove it.

"Yes, you were cursed. You don't remember who you are."

"Okay, okay, so who are you? And who's your mom?"

"I'm Hannah. I never got a name before, so I guess I'm just Hannah. But my sister is Emma. She's the savior. She's my twin sister and she escaped the curse through a wardrobe, but she's going to come back and save us all."

"Save us from the curse? So if Emma's your sister, who are your parents?" Archie feigned belief so Hannah would not get discouraged and write him off as someone else who didn't give her thoughts the time of day.

"Yes. Our parents our Snow White and Prince Charming, but here she goes by Mary Margaret and she teaches my class. I haven't figured out Prince Charming yet, but he's in this town somewhere, he has to be. They aren't allowed to leave the town."

"So if this is true," Archie starts, "what about the Amish girl you thought was your birth mother a few nights ago?"

Hannah narrowed her eyes at the therapist. "That was before I knew the truth. How did you even know about that?"

"I have my sources. You have a lot of people who care about you."

Hannah looked at Dr. Hopper, suddenly feeling a wave of dejection realizing he didn't believe any what she's saying. It made perfect sense to her as she was explaining it. She crossed her arms, a sign of defense, and sat in silence for a few moments.

"Well, Hannah, the hour is up, but I think we should meet again next week if that's okay with you." Hannah shrugged at Archie's suggestion. "Do you mind sending your mom in for a few moments so I can talk to her?"

"Please don't tell her what I told you. She can't know I'm figuring it out. She's the evil queen and she hates me for being Snow White's daughter. She'll hurt me if she knows."

"What do you mean, hurt you?" Archie asks, wondering if Hannah is being mistreated.

"She just will. Please don't tell her. My life already sucks here." Hannah says, blowing out air between her teeth. Hannah didn't wait for a response before turning around and walking out.

"How did it go?" Regina asked her daughter.

"It was okay," Hannah says looking down. "Dr. Hopper wants to talk to you." She looks up briefly just to see her mother's confused face. Hannah sits down and reads a magazine. She doesn't recognize anything in it. She doesn't really keep up with pop culture anyway because she's never been interested, but she suddenly realized that even if she wanted to, she never had the opportunity. A cursed town isn't open for outside gossip.

"How is she?" Regina asks the town therapist.

"I'm really... I'm quite worried about her." Archie says, seemingly searching for words. "I think she's having a really difficult time accepting the fact her birth parents gave her up. She makes up intricate stories trying to explain their actions, and she's quite an imaginative and creative soul. I'm just worried she's not dealing with her feelings of abandonment and loss. I think it's vital she continues with our sessions."

"Abandonment? She's just a child. All she's ever known is a loving and safe home. She has no reason to feel those things." Regina visibly tries to contain anger.

"That may be true," Archie says, matching Regina's temperament with an even-tone, "but invalidating what she's feeling is only going to escalate it and drive a wedge even more so between you two."

"Okay," Regina says exasperated, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and pointer finger, "what should I do?"

"Try and give more weight to her opinions. Ask her small things, like what SHE wants for supper, or what SHE'D like to do during the day. It may be little, but it will go a long way."

"Sure," Regina nods half-heartedly, "thanks for your help, Doctor."

"Of course. I'll be seeing you next week?"

"Yes, I think that would be good for her."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Just to clarify, I will be using some ideas/scenes from the show but I won't be following the plotline exactly. If I do use storylines from the show, of course it will have twists on it to fit the story. If you guys have specific scenes or story lines you'd really want me to include let me know because I would be happy to try and include them best I can :) I have the next few chapters written out, but I try to wait for some type of response before I keep posting, so your reviews help!

* * *

Emma sighed to herself and turned the tv off. She knew she'd probably turn it back on in a matter of minutes, but for some reason she needed a break right now. Maybe she should read a book or something. She didn't really feel like reading, or doing anything for that matter. She wasn't tired so she couldn't even catch up on sleep. Sighing, she picked up her iPhone and opened her email. There was nothing new. Giving in, she opened facebook, succumbing to mindless scrolling about people she didn't care about and their perfect lives and perfect families. Somehow it was so addicting to read through, even though it made her bitter. She was wondering if she should call it a night and get into bed when her doorbell rang. It could be her floormates at the apartment, but she doubted it, as there was no music or anything even remotely disturbing happening. It could be her friend Lauryn. She was the closest friend she had, but still, they weren't close enough to drop by each others places unannounced with no reason. Maybe it was an emergency.

"Who is it?"

"My name is Hannah. I am ten." Emma heard this coming from a little girls voice, presumably a ten year old, and looked in the peep hole shocked.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. But you need to let me in."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm your family. And I'm all by myself." Hannah answered, and despite her best efforts of prevention, Emma's heart softened at the last sentence. She opened the door to the little girl, who welcomed herself inside without hesitation.

"All-riiight. Where are you from?"

"Storybrooke, Maine. I was adopted."

"How did you find me? And how are we... family?" The word got stuck in Emma's mouth.

"I'm your sister. It's a long story." Hannah said, and since she was technically the younger sister, she decided to not elaborate on the whole twins concept.

"Sister?"

"Yep. My name is Hannah. I'm ten years old." Hannah reiterated. Emma nodded slowly.

"So... why are you here?"

"Because I had to find you. So you could come back with me."

"No offense kid, but why would I come back with you? Why do you even want me to?"

"Because," Hannah said with a twinkle in her eyes, "you're the only one who can save us."

"Oh kid," Emma said, feeling like she got knocked in the gut. She knew this little girl was feeling something she knew well: loneliness and hopelessness and longing for someone to care about her. At age ten, Emma had still held out hope that her parents would come find her, that giving her up was some crazy misconception. She still believed she could be saved at her age too. "I'm sorry. But even if we are sisters, I don't even know you. I can't help you. I'm just a messed up kid from the foster care system who barely can take care of herself. I'm no savior."

Hannah's eyes lit up at Emma's choice of words. "But you are!" Realizing she was scaring Emma, she tried a different approach. "Please come back with me. Don't make me go back alone. Just take me back to my home. Come with me. Please Emma."

"Alright, kid. I'll bring you back. Your parents are probably worried sick."

"Actually it's just a mom," Hannah began explaining getting up from the kitchen stool she was sitting on. "And she doesn't care about me. She hates me."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"It is," Hannah says, her face solemn. "I'm hungry, Emma. Do you have any granola bars here?"

* * *

"So... tell me about Storybrooke." Emma said tapping the steering wheel, trying to make conversation.

"I'm not sure you're ready."

Emma can't hold back her chuckle. "Ready for what?"

"I'll tell you when you are ready." Hannah says simply, causing a small wave of sadness again for Emma. Hannah thinks Emma is going to stay with her. She hasn't felt abandonment like Emma had, and Emma's going to be the one to inflict it on her.

"Okay then, tell me about you." Emma tries again.

"My name is Hannah, I'm ten years-"

"Skip to the stuff you don't use as an introduction at stranger's front doors."

"You're not a stranger. You're my sister." Hannah's face crinkles with confusion at Emma's choice of words.

"Still don't know each other," Emma shrugged. "Go on."

"Okay, well, hm. I like to read a lot. I can jump rope 17 times without stepping on the rope," she explains, and Emma lets out a small smile at the innocence in Hannah's voice. "I can paint the nails on my left hand really well."

"Everyone can," Emma countered.

"No, not everyone. I'm a lefty."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" And Emma laughed.

"You know I was lefty too," Emma explained. "But the foster care home I was in when I was learning to write was deeply religious and for some reason had it in their brain it was some type of sin to write with your left hand. Like all the words written with a left hand were damned or something like that. Anyway, they would slap my hand when I wrote until I learned to write with my right hand." Emma finished the story and looked at the wide open mouth on the 10 year old in her passenger seat.

"They really slapped your hand?"

"Not hard," Emma promised, realizing how innocent this kid really was. "It didn't hurt."

"Good. That is so mean it's reprehensible."

"Reprehensible? Your vocabulary is extensive."

"I like to read, it's no big deal." Hannah said, shrugging her shoulders. "There's nothing else I can do at home. My mom doesn't let me watch tv or anything. She says it rots your brain. So it's read or talk to her. So basically I've read every book ever written."

"Listen, um, Hannah," Emma said her name hesitantly, as if she might have gotten it wrong. "Your mom obviously cares about you a lot to raise you and take good care of you. You're lucky, not all of us are."

"I know," Hannah said, looking down. "But she's done some bad things."

"Bad things?"

Hannah nodded, and Emma desperately wanted to know more. "Look, we're in Storybrooke." Hannah noted, passing the sign.

"You know, I've never heard of this town before. It's not on any map or anything."

"I know."

Emma drove into the center of town, stopping at the yellow light as it turned red. This is probably the only stoplight in town, Emma thinks to herself.

"It's quaint. A nice place to grow up," Emma tries, but Hannah shows no interest in Emma's peace offering. "So are you going to tell me where you live?"

Torn, Hannah looks her older sister. She knows she should tell her where she lives, but she can't help but feel once she does it will be over and Emma will just leave. She can't have gone through all of this for nothing. Sighing at her lack of response, Emma gets out of the car and stretches.

"You're not gonna get out?" Emma calls through the open window. Hannah shakes her head tentatively. She needs Emma to stay, but she doesn't want Emma mad at her, either. She's never been quite good at handling people being upset with her. Emma runs her fingers through her hair, seemingly exasperated. "Is it really only 8:15?" She asks through the window.

"That clock hasn't moved in my whole life."

"Great." Emma says sarcastically.

"Can we have dinner before you go? Please. We'll go to Granny's Diner. Then I'll tell you where I live. It's a small town anyway, I'm sure there's people there that will tell you if I try and back out on my side of the deal."

Emma looks at pleading face and gives in. "To the diner, I guess."

"Thanks Emma. You will love it. I can introduce you to everyone there."

"Oh, joy." Emma says, following Hannah's directions to the building minutes away, straight up the road. She gets out of the car first and looks through the window of the diner. It looks like a movie from the 1950's. There's an elderly woman behind the counter laughing with some well-dressed blonde man. A woman with a raven-haired pixie cut sits at the stool with a book, casually looking up and laughing every so often. It seems like everyone's friends here. This kid has no idea how lucky she's been.

"Come on," Hannah says, taking Emma's hands. Emma tries not to let the little girl know how awkward she feels at the touch. "Ms. Blanchard! Ms Blanchard, guess what? This is my sister!"

"Really? That's great, Hannah. It's lovely to meet you..." The pixie-haired woman starts and reaches out her hand.

"Emma." She finishes.

"Emma. That's really quite a lovely name."

"Thank you," Emma states, trying not to blush at the compliment from this complete stranger.

"Emma doesn't believe in herself yet, but she's going to save us." Hannah says quietly to her teacher, holding up her hand to block Emma.

"Oh? I was unaware we needed saving," Ms Blanchard says lightly, smiling.

"I know." Hannah's voice was serious.

"I'm just dropping her off," Emma clarifies. "I'll be on my way right after dinner."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hey guys, this is a short chapter. The next one is a bit longer, i dunno when i'll post it though. If you are reading this story, please leave a review and lemme know. I just got a job writing articles for a website along with summer classes and my part-time job, so things are going to get sort of busy. i do feel a loyalty to this story and i would like to continue it to the end, but theres really no point if no one else is reading. i already know how it ends... so. it really only matters if anyone else wants to read what happens. anyway, ya, please review if you'd like me to continue with it. otherwise i may just let it fizzle out... thanks :D

* * *

"So... did you like it?" Hannah asks, hopeful, putting a remaining fry in her mouth.

"I hate to admit it, but it was really pretty good." Emma says, drinking a sip of water.

"I knew you'd like it. Because it's my favorite." Hannah beams.

"Oh kid..." Emma says, sadly. "I know you think we're sisters..."

"We are sisters."

"Okay, well, that still doesn't make us family. I don't know you, and you don't know me. You have a nice little life going on here. It's a nice town, your teacher already told me you're the mayor's daughter, you're smart, and innocent, and everything a ten year old should be. You're doing just fine without me."

"But I'm not!" Hannah said, unable to control her small temper. "You don't understand. I need you, we all need you. I believe in you... Please stay." Hannah begs, her eyes pleading even more than her words.

"I'm not going to do you any good. I'm more messed up than you think. I don't know why you think I can help you... but I... I can't. I'm sorry to let you down. But we should get going." Emma says, putting money on the table and scooting out of the booth. Hannah stays her in seat defiantly, but then feels bad for her disobedience. Technically her and Emma should be the same age, but being a newborn for ten years didn't really count as existing. Which means Emma was ten years older, experience wise. She gets out of her booth reluctantly and follows her sister to her yellow car.

"It's just down this road on the left." Hannah explains.

"I know. Your teacher told me." Emma answers. Hannah looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry kid. I really am." Emma said, hoping it would somehow help the disappointment she was causing.

"Emma, can I ask you one favor?"

"Fire away."

"Don't tell my mom we're sisters."

"Why is that?"

"Because she'll try and hurt you."

"Why would she...?"

"She doesn't know you exist. She thinks I'm the savior and I got stuck in the curse. She doesn't know you're going to break it. She doesn't know she's going to lose. She'll figure it out eventually, but I figure the more time we have the better. Considering you still don't believe."

Emma rolled her eyes at Hannah's last sentence. "Well what do you want me to say? I'm just a stranger that what? Kidnapped you?"

"No. I'll worry about it. Just don't say anything."

"You know you're ten, right?" Emma says.

"And?"

"You act much older." Emma states, and Hannah smirks.

"The universe is funny like that."

As soon as they get out of the car, a woman with short dark hair came running out and embraced Hannah.

"Hannah! Where have you been?!"

"I ran away." She says simply.

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"Because I couldn't stand living with you anymore!" Hannah says, running off inside emotionally.

"Hannah!" Regina calls, but Hannah doesn't even look back. "And who are you?"

"Um... Emma. My name is Emma Swan."

"How do you know Hannah?"

"Well she-" Emma states, then thinks about the distraught in Hannah's voice when she yelled she couldn't stand living with her own mother and her warning in the car. "I just found her all by herself at a bus station. I started talking to her and got her to tell me where she lived. I wanted to make sure she got home safely... it's the least I could do."

"Thank you, Emma?" Regina says her name as a question. Emma nods. "Why don't you come in? Was it a long drive?"

"About four hours. Not horrible."

"Four hours? You're driving back tonight? I insist not. Why don't you stay on the couch for the night and head back in the morning. It's the least _I _could do."

"Oh no, it's fine really. Thanks anyway."

"I insist." Regina says sternly, and for some reason Emma is slightly nervous about declining again.

"Um... okay. I'll leave first thing in the morning."

"Sure." Regina smiles.

* * *

"Emma?! You're staying?" Hannah says at the top of the stairs.

"For just one night." Emma clarifies, but Hannah is already racing down the stairs to embrace her.

"Oh, thank you, thank you Emma!"

"She's really taken a liking to you." Regina states when Hannah returns upstairs to change clothes.

"Yeah, well, it was a long drive. We had a lot of time to talk." Emma says nervously. "She's a cool kid."

"Yes. She's 'cool'." Regina mirrors Emma's word choice. "She's extremely intelligent and intuitive. Far more advanced than her peers. That's why she's more of a loner."

"A loner...? Do you see that as a like... good thing?"

"I see it as an appropriate thing given her level of development." Regina says terse, and Emma raises her eyebrows.

"Oh-kay."

"Here Miss. Swan, why don't you make yourself comfortable on this couch? If you need anything, help yourself to anything that's in the kitchen."

"Thank you." Emma says. "That's very kind of you."

Regina nods. "I actually have to run an errand. I know it's late, but could you just keep an eye on Hannah? She's fine on her own, but I usually ask the sheriff. But since you're here."

"You trust me with your daughter?"

"Well you're the one who brought her back to me, are you not?"

"Yes, that's true..."

"Great. I won't be very long at all." Regina says, walking towards the front door. As soon as the door closes beyond her, she stops making herself smaller. Her feet pound the pavement so hard that she feels it throughout her whole body. She could drive, but she's so angry she needs to let off some of the steam by walking. "Gold," she practically screams, opening the door to the pawn shop.

"It's a little late, Madame Mayor. I'm about to return to my family."

"Gold," Regina spits. "We have a problem."

"A problem?"

"Quite a big one. A blonde, twenty-year-old, problem."

"I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate."

"A girl named Emma Swan just returned my runaway daughter to me. A girl that looks exactly like my daughter will in ten years. A girl that somehow returned my daughter to me in a town that doesn't exist to anyone else. How did this girl get in this town. Nobody can see it."

"Hmmmm..." Mr. Gold says elusively. "It does sound like a bit of a problem for you, Madame Mayor."

"Well, how am I going to fix this?" Regina asked, hissing the last s sound.

"It cannot be fixed."

"Oh Gold," Regina laughed. "You seem not to realize that challenges for me have just been a motivation to get creative."

Gold smiled at the the determined woman, know she would not soon find out what he knew.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**: Hi thanks for the reviews to let me know you're reading still! To the reviewer that asked me not to drag out the curse breaking, I'll promise I'll do my best, but I don't want to compromise the integrity of the story. I promise there will be plenty of story post-curse broken. Don't worry. I'll try to make sure I keep the plot going. Thanks for reading :D Reviews are always helpful :)

* * *

"Hi Emma." Hannah says, standing over the sleeping body on the couch. The two words cause Emma to jump out of her skin.

"Oh kid, shit. I mean, woops.. crap. What are you doing?"

"You fell asleep. It's late. My mom still isn't home."

"What time is it?"

"Almost one."

"In the morning?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"You always say that."

"Because I wouldn't."

"How come you're not asleep?" Emma said sitting up, relenting.

"I'm not tired. I napped a little." Hannah shrugged. "Are you tired?"

"Well I was."

"Sorry," Hannah said, softly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Emma laughed. "Is that why you stood over me while I slept? So I wouldn't wake up?" In response, Hannah just shrugged.

"If you're really leaving tomorrow," Hannah started, "I didn't want to give up any time with you."

"Kid, you really think I'm much better than I actually am. I promise I'm nothing special." Emma said, and Hannah wanted to argue with her, but she knew it didn't matter. Emma wasn't ready to believe in herself.

"It doesn't matter." Hannah explained. "It doesn't matter who you are... you're still all I have. You're my only family. I've never had anyone before, and now I do, but you're just going to leave." Hannah said it purposefully to strike a chord with Emma, but as she spoke the words, she was surprised by the truth she felt in them. Even if Emma wasn't the savior, she wanted her to stay.

"Family isn't just blood... you have family all around you. Family much better than me. I promise, you'll barely remember me in a few weeks." Emma tried to sound light, to let out a small laugh. But it sounded dry and forced.

"You're wrong." Hannah said sternly. At this Emma didn't know what to say. She didn't believe she was wrong, but that didn't mean Hannah didn't really believe in what she was saying, either.

"You should really get some rest." Emma suggested, then as an afterthought added "I promise I won't leave before I say goodbye." Hannah nodded tentatively, then started to walk away. She had never felt so defeated. Her entire life she had been taken as a joke, but for some reason, this time she was more frustrated than ever. Why wouldn't anyone listen to her? She didn't know how to prove she was right. Of course she had other stories, but they were just stories. She was trying to explain the unexplainable, until the unexplainable had an explanation.

* * *

"Good morning, Miss. Swan." Regina said, as Emma woke from her spot on the couch. For a few moments she forgot where she was, what had happened. For a few moments she had thought she was alone still, and she suddenly realized, though she was just a floor away, she missed Hannah. She didn't want to go back to being alone. Quickly she shook those thoughts of her head. She didn't need this mess. She had a life back in Boston. "Breakfast?" Regina asked, cordially.

"Uhhh... no, no thanks. I'm actually just going to get on my way, if you don't mind. I promised Hannah I'd say bye though. Is she around?"

"She's upstairs, still. The third door on the right. You can go on up." Regina said with a smile. Something made Emma feel tense.

"Sure... thanks." Emma said, awkwardly, moving towards the stairs. "Hannah?" Emma called, knocking on the door lightly. It was opening suddenly. Hannah looked distraught, like she had been crying. Her face was puffy and her eyes at the same red line underneath them as Emma's did when she cried, and for a moment she really entertained the thought they were biological sisters. "I just wanted to say bye..." Emma started, and Hannah nodded. "Listen, I'm sorry this didn't work out the way you wanted it to. I'm... sorry."

Hannah didn't reply, but she wrapped her arms around Emma's waist and hugged her. "I wrote you a note."

"A note?"

"Yes, please read it. When you leave. I'll miss you Emma, but I understand. We'll find each other again." Hannah said, tears springing to her eyes again realizing Emma was really leaving. She felt like she failed her parents, her sister, and all the people she cared about by not convincing Emma to stay. This was her destiny. She was supposed to bring back their happy endings. It wasn't supposed to end with her leaving.

Emma nodded, unsure what to say. "Don't lose who you are, okay? You may be a bit much sometimes, but you're a great kid. Don't let anyone make you feel any less."

When Emma got into her car, Hannah watched from her bedroom window. Fresh tears formed as the car started moving, but she was distracted temporarily by the moving hands on the clock tower.

* * *

"Will anyone be joining you?"

"No, just me." Emma clarified to the hostess. She nodded sadly, forcing a smile. Back to the pity glances, Emma thought to herself, sighing. About two hours into her journey back to Boston, she got pretty hungry and decided to stop. She had held off holding Hannah's note, but it was eating her alive. The moment she sat down, she unfolded the notebook paper to a little's girl handwriting, exceptionally neat, but still obviously belonging to a child.

_Dear Emma,_

_I know there's nothing I can do to convince you. I promise this note won't be about that, so please keep reading. First I want to thank you for coming with me on the trip home. I know you'll deny it, because you'll deny anything good anyone says about you, but not everyone would have done that. That makes you special, at least it does to me. I want to tell you the reason I originally found you. I think you deserve to know, so here goes I'm going to tell you. It was really easy to find you after I knew we were sisters. I thought maybe you could save me. I know you think my life at home is really great, but you're wrong. My mom puts on an act. When I get her too mad she hits me really hard. I'm afraid she's going to kill me one day. I can't live here anymore. Please help me Emma. I know you been through a lot, and so I know you can save me. You're my hero. _

_Love_ _your sister, _

_Hannah_

Emma took in a breath reading the letter. The ending was crossed out, unreadable, and next to it before she decided to put your sister. She left 10 dollars on the table, considering she hadn't ordered anything but water, she considered it more than enough. As soon as she got in the car she dialed 9-1-1.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Um, I have a case of suspected child abuse."

"How do you suspect it?"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but the child is 10 and she asked me to help her. She wrote it to me in a letter."

"How do you know the child?"

"She's, um, my biological sister. Our parents gave us both up and she just found me... yesterday." Emma says, realizing it feels like it had been much longer than that she had known Hannah.

"Where is this suspected abuse located? Is there any immediate danger?" The operator asked with an even tone.

"No, I don't think so, well I don't really know if there," Emma admitted. "It's in Storybrooke, Maine."

"Storybrooke, Maine? Nice one, kid. There's actual people in danger out there and you're pulling a prank." The operator said, not hiding her annoyance. Emma's mouth gaped open at her phone. She redialed immediately.

"911, what's your emergency?" A male voice answered.

"Hello, um I just called over a case of suspected child abuse and the operator hung up on me when I mentioned it was occurring in Storybrooke, Maine. I'd like to report her."

"Well, that might be due to the fact there is no place in Maine called Storybrooke." The operator explained calmly.

"Yes there is," Emma said in disbelief. "I was just there. It's right before Rockwood when you're driving northwest. I was just there two hours ago."

"There's only woods of Greenville before you hit Rockwood. I'm sorry, ma'am. Are you okay? Where are you located? We can send someone to you to escort you to the hospital. Were you in an accident?"

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm sorry, it must have been a misunderstanding." Emma said, hanging up her cell phone and turning the key in her ignition.

* * *

"So you believe me?" Hannah asked Danielle, sitting in Danielle's room.

"Of course."

"You don't think I'm crazy?"

"I think everyone else is crazy for not realizing it." Danielle assures her friend, and Hannah lights up at having someone on her side.

"I told Emma what you told me to."

"About your mom..." Danielle says.

"Yes. I feel lousy for lying to her."

"But if it works..."

"It has to work."

"Then she'll be back." Danielle says, trying to assure her.

"We can only hope."


	8. Chapter 8

Emma felt a sudden surge of strength banging on the white door. She had no idea where it came from, or why she couldn't control it.

"Open up!" Emma yelled.

"Emma? Can I help you?" Regina said, feigning shock.

"I need to see Hannah."

"Hannah? She's not home. Could I be any help to you? Did you leave something behind?"

"Cut it, Regina." Emma said coolly. "I know something is up with this town. And I intend to find out."

"I don't know what you're referring to. But I'm happy to have you join our little family here in Storybrooke for the timing being." Regina's voice was so even, the fakeness so pronounced, it suddenly made Emma want to lash out in anger. Emma turned around on her heels, still reeling. Obviously Regina would be no help. She had no idea where to look for Hannah, but considering she didn't know anywhere else to go, she decided on the diner. She walked into the shop and looked for familiar faces, assuming she'd see at least one. She was wrong, save the elderly woman running the restaurant.

"Can I help you?" The elderly woman asked, sensing a discomfort from the blonde.

"Uuh, yeah," Emma started. "I am- I'm looking for Hannah. The mayors daughter." She wasn't sure how much information to include.

"Hannah? I saw her with Danielle earlier. Those two have been inseparable lately." A woman with blonde hair says. She's sitting in a booth with a toddler boy by her side.

"Ah, thank you," Emma says gratefully. "And Danielle is...?"

"The Gold's daughter. She lives in a house down the street from here. It's very close. Just go straight and take your second right. It's the second biggest house in town, completely brown. You won't miss it."

"Thank you so much..."

"Kathryn." The blonde smiles.

"Kathryn. I'm Emma."

"Hi Emma. This is Cameron. Cam." Kathryn says, introducing the boy next to her.

"Hi Cam." Emma tries to make her voice appropriately cheery enough for a young child. He turns away from her. Emma's not surprised, kids are usually scared of her. The woman seems embarrassed though.

"He's really shy, I'm sorry." Kathryn explains.

"It's really no problem at all. Thanks again, for your help, I mean."

"Of course." The woman smiles and Emma turns out of the diner. That was so easy, Emma realizes. She forgets why she's here for a minute and thinks about Boston. She imagines going into a cafe in Boston looking for one little girl and someone being able to locate her. She lets out an audible laugh. There was something charming about the micro size of the town. She doesn't let herself think about it for long though, as she she's in front of a giant brown house in minutes. Assuming she must be at the right place, she takes a deep breath. She hadn't met Mr. Gold yet but she had heard people talking in the brief time she was dropping Hannah off. She did know to be slightly wary as she approached the mundane brown door.

"Who is it?" A cheery voice called from the other side. Before Emma could answer, the door opened to reveal a beautiful brunette in a pale blue dress.

"Um, hi. I- I am- I'm looking for Hannah." Emma says, her voice distracted by the woman. Her face was warm and welcoming, and she was absolutely stunning. This was definitely not what she pictured from the whispers and the dreary brown house.

"Hannah?" The woman asked in confusion. "May I ask who you are?"

"Um, my name is Emma. I am... I'm Hannah's older sister. You can ask her if you want."

Belle looked the young woman up and down. "Come in," she smiled. "You are trustworthy." Emma looked at her in surprise, not because she shouldn't be trusted, but because she wasn't used to not having to prove that to people. "Hannah, come down please." It is quite a pressing matter." The woman called up the stairs, then turned to Emma. "I'm Belle Gold. Danielle's mother."

Hannah walked to the top of the stairs and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her older sister. Danielle, following closely behind, ran into Hannah's back at her sudden stop. The stumble caused Hannah to fall forward, tumbling down the first half of the staircase before reaching the break in the middle where the staircase turned. Emma, without thinking, ran up.

"Hannah are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She replied, rubbing her head. "My head hurts."

"Oh dear," Belle said worriedly. "I'm going to get some ice for you before it leaves a bump."

"I'm fine, Belle, I promise." Hannah assured her.

"You should ice it." Emma insisted. Hannah looked up at Emma with twinkling eyes at her display of protectiveness. It was a very big-sister-like thing to do. "Are you okay, kid?"

"I'm great, Emma. You came back." Hannah replied, wrapping her arms around Emma who was still sitting in the position she was when she kneeled down to Hannah.

"Han I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I'm going! Seriously, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" A voice said from the front doorway.

"Oh, hi Daddy. I ran into Hannah and she fell down the stairs." Danielle said to her father.

"Are you alright, Hannah?" Mr. Gold said, turning towards her.

"Yes, Mr. Gold. Thank you." Hannah replied, and Emma tried to hold in her shudder. Suddenly she wanted to get away from here, with Hannah. He was exactly what she pictured when she approached the house. But could he...? No. There's no way that the beautiful woman getting ice for Hannah could be married to...

"Danielle, fetch your mother for me. Tell her not to prepare dinner this evening. I have a surprise for you two." Mr. Gold said, smiling at his daughter. Emma watched the twelve year old girl run off animatedly. So that's her mother and this is her father. Which means... Oh god, Emma thought. How could that even happen?

"I don't believe we've been introduced." Mr. Gold said, turning towards Emma.

"No, we haven't." Emma replied solemnly.

"I'm Mr. Gold." The man replied after a few moments of silence.

Emma looked him up and down, as if deciding if she was going to say anything. Hannah watched her intently. "Emma." She said finally, as if deciding the one word would be harmless.

"Emma. Why... that's a lovely name."

"Hannah," Emma said, turning her attention, "would you mind showing me around the town a little? I was hoping we could talk."

"Sure!" Hannah said excitedly, clearly forgetting the circumstances of Emma's return.

"Why don't we see if we can get that ice to go? You need to watch that bump."

* * *

Emma walked by Hannah's side, awkwardly waving hi to people Hannah has known all her life. It seems like everyone in this town is absolutely mad for Hannah.

"Do you have somewhere we could talk?" Emma asked, and Hannah nodded thoughtfully. Emma followed Hannah to the edge of the land, where the water returned every day like an old soul reuniting with their first love. The sand was rocky, and she made a mental note not to come here with bare feet but quickly stopped herself. She was going to settle things with Hannah and go back to her life. In Boston. Where she was meant to be. Sure, she could entertain a thought or two about staying here, but it isn't real. She wasn't a part of this community. She'd always be an outsider. She'd rather just be invisible in Boston, then join a community as close-knit as this one.

"Your letter..." Emma started, rolling up her pants just enough to sit next to Hannah by the water without getting them wet. Hannah tried to follow suit, but her pink sweatpants unraveled quickly. Without thinking too much about it, Emma reached over and rolled her pants up for her so the water wouldn't touch them.

"Thank you..." Hannah said quietly, not looking up.

"Hannah, the letter. We got to talk about it, kid."

"I know. I was just hoping you'd forget." Hannah admitted.

"You didn't say much that was easy to forget." Emma explained, looking at Hannah. She wouldn't look up at her still. She was staring at her rolled up pants, and Emma suddenly realized. "Hannah, were the things you said truthful or not?"

"Not." Hannah said so quiet Emma had to strain her ears. If she hadn't already known the answer, she probably wouldn't have heard.

"Why did you lie to me, Hannah? I called the police. Do you know how bad that would have been?"

"I knew you would."

"You knew I would?" Emma said, getting aggravated.

"Yes. I knew you would, and they wouldn't believe you. Because you're the only person who can come in and out of Storybrooke. To anyone else it's just woods."

Emma gaped at the young girl. "How did you..."

"How did I know? What? That's exactly what they told you, isn't it?"

"Hannah... how did you know that?" Emma says, worriedly.

"I told you! The curse is real! But you don't believe me! Nobody does. Not even Archie. Nobody believes me, I'm telling the truth." Hannah says, standing up.

"I know you really believe what you're saying," Emma admits, "but that doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes its true." Hannah says, sitting down again. Her anger never lasted for long. "I know you don't believe me. But there has to be something I can do to get you to stay." Hannah pleaded, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Kid, don't." Emma begged. "Let's go. I'm sure your mom is worried sick about you." But even as Emma said the words, she felt a twinge in her stomach thinking of Regina. "What if I stay one week? That's it. I'll stay at Granny's. Then after a week, I have to go home, okay?"

Hannah nodded, lighting up. "Oh, Emma. I knew you'd stay." Her eyes were still full of residue tears.

Emma lets out a small laugh, and wipes the tears resting underneath Hannah's eyes. Whether or not she was telling the truth in her letter was irrelevant, because she knew Hannah was being honest when she said she felt like her mom didn't love her. And whether that was true was another story. She did know Hannah looked exactly like she did when she was ten and reminded Emma so much of a smarter, funnier, more giving version of herself, and she had wished someone had gave her the time of the day when she was a child.

She walked back with Hannah, her mind a million miles away. She tried to focus on what Hannah was saying, her little sister, but she couldn't seem to focus no matter what. All she could think about was the war her brain was currently waging. Her brain was screaming at her not to stay, because if she got to know Hannah too well, she might not be able to handle being alone again.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So this morning I wrote this chapter and the next and it sort of just worked out like this that the story is going in a bit of a different direction;) (To clarify, Emma is still the Savior, it's not going to magically turn into Hannah) But the curse will be broken in the next couple chapters. I might post the next chapter later tonight, it depends on the reviews/response! **

* * *

Emma had been meeting Hannah every morning at the diner for the week she's been here.

"Hey Mary Margaret. Have you seen Han?" Emma said casually to the woman with short raven colored hair. Though she had only known her for a week, something about the woman was very warm and trustworthy. Emma felt like she had grown up knowing her. She had really become Emma's closest friend this week when Hannah had other responsibilities besides convincing Emma she was from a fairy tale book.

"I haven't, actually," Mary Margaret responded thoughtfully, "She would never miss a breakfast with you." Emma looked at her with confusion for only a moment, wondering where her little sister was.

"Actually, I think I know where she is." Emma said, turning around, just in time to see David walking through the door. "Good luck." Emma whispered, and Mary Margaret gave her a small shove. "Just saying." Emma joked, walking out of the diner.

She made her way to the place on the rocky beach, and for some reason, she was thinking of Regina. She wondered why Regina was running through her mind when she saw Hannah sitting alone, her pants rolled up and her feet in the water.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking."

"About what? You didn't tell me you were skipping out on our breakfast this morning." Emma tries to sound light-hearted.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hannah said as if she was just realizing she had forgotten.

"Alright kid," Emma says, caving and sitting down next to her. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"There's no point." Hannah wouldn't make eye contact. Emma didn't know what to say. She was used to Hannah being overenthusiastic and positive, and she definitely wasn't use to her seemingly feeling hopeless like this. Emma let out a loud sigh, trying to stall time perhaps, because she had no idea how to continue the conversation. She wasn't used to trying to comfort someone. She had never really cared. She had comforted some of the kids in her foster homes but it was always because it was an unspoken rule, something she was supposed to do when the parents got to be too much. It was an entirely different situation when it was a kid she genuinely cared about. Luckily for her, Hannah continued. "I got in a fight with my mom today."

"Ohhhh." Emma said, nodding. "About what?"

"You."

"Oh." She tried to hide the awkwardness in her voice. She wanted to know what it was about, but she didn't want to push.

"She said I should stop spending so much time with you. That when you leave Saturday you're never going to see me again. That you don't care. She said I have a hero complex," Hannah said finally looking up, and Emma could see the tears in her eyes. "I didn't even know what that meant. I asked Ms. Blanchard and she explained it to me before I told her why I was asking."

"She shouldn't have said that to you." Emma said, hoping it was a good thing to say and that it would help. It was true though, she shouldn't have said that to a ten year old.

"But it's true, isn't it?" Hannah said, testing her.

"Hannah..."

"You think so too!"

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to! You think that! You think I'm just making all this up because I need a hero and I'm using you! You think that, don't you? Don't you?" Emma looked at Hannah with her mouth open. She had no idea what to say. She was still trying to think of words to form when Hannah continued. "I thought you cared about me. But you're just like her!"

"Hannah!" Emma called, but Hannah was running. She didn't know if she should go after her, but she didn't feel like they were at that point in the relationship yet. She figured she needed time to cool down anyway and she could find her after school.

"Hey Mary Margaret. Have you seen Hannah?" Emma asked, walking into the classroom Hannah attended. There were a few kids left, but Hannah was nowhere to be found.

"She left just a few minutes ago to meet her mother. Why?"

"Ughhhhhhhh." Emma groaned.

"Is everything okay there, Emma?" Mary Margaret laughed.

"Hannah is mad at me. She ran off this morning and I let her go. I figured we could talk after class."

"She's mad at YOU? That's very odd. She seems to love you so much."

"Yeah, well, that's sort of the problem." Emma said dejectedly.

"Emma," Mary Margaret said sweetly. "Would you like to chat after the kids get picked up?"

"Aw, well, thank you for the offer. But I should find Hannah. I don't know why, but I have this weird feeling of worry in my gut. She was really upset this morning and I didn't exactly help."

"Of course," Mary Margaret agreed. "If you need any help, I'm in apartment 3 in the building across from the library."

"Thank you so much for being so kind. I really appreciate it." Emma says truthfully.

"Of course." The teacher says as if it's a no brainer.

Emma walked the beach first, hoping Hannah would be there waiting for this morning. She partly knew she wouldn't, but she still hoped. She knew Hannah wasn't at home with Regina. Well, she reminded herself, you don't know that. But she had a strong feeling she wasn't. She wondered where Regina thought she was, and that gave her the idea to check the brown house of the Golds. She was sure if she wasn't with Danielle, Danielle would know where she was.

Ringing the doorbell of the big brown house, Emma hoped with everything inside of her it would be Belle answering the door. To her dismay, the man with shoulder length brown hair answered.

"Emma, what a lovely surprise. How may I be of service?"

"I, um, I'm looking for Hannah. I figured she might be with Danielle."

"Alas, she is not. But please, come in. I perhaps can be of some help."

"Uh..." Emma said, trying to think of a way to turn down his offer. "Okay." She heard herself say it and cursed herself.

"Great. Sit down, please. I'll fetch some tea." He ordered, and Emma followed him into the kitchen.

"So um, where's Belle?"

"Out. I would assume at the library." Gold answers uninterested in furthering the conversation, and Emma takes the cue. Suddenly she wished she took up that offer with Mary Margaret so she wouldn't have ended up here. "So Emma," Gold begins. "Tell me what brings you to Storybrooke."

"I'm not staying," Emma quickly clarifies. "I was actually planning on leaving the day after tomorrow."

"Planning?" He says clearly intrigued. He sets down the full tea cups in front of both of them.

"Yeah, well, I don't really know anything anymore. Things have got... complicated." Emma says, picking up the cup and taking a sip. It tastes rather bland, and she immediately puts effort into not making a disgusted face.

"I see." Gold says, and the last thing Emma sees is Gold nodding his head in understanding before her head begins spinning. She tries blinking her eyes, but eventually when she goes to blink, her eyes don't reopen. Gold can't hide his grin as she stumbles off his kitchen chair and on to the floor, her arms sprawled out on the ground in her blonde hair.

* * *

"So you did it?" Regina spats.

"Of course I did it. I always keep my end of deals."

"Why is she not dead then?"

"She's in the hospital. She is not going to make it. Relax, dear Mayor, you will have your wish."

"You better hope I do." Regina says to the eerily calm man in his pawn shop. "Or your family will be the one that suffers."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Gold replies, his smirk returning.


	10. Chapter 10

"Gold, you did something wrong." Regina said over Emma's torpid body. She was pacing through the room, pointing to the monitor that proved Emma's life.

"I did what you asked." He explained calmly.

"No. She should be dead by now. No coming back."

"She essentially is already, is she not?"

"It's not good enough. There can be no chance she can come back and break the curse. I can't lose Hannah." Regina said, almost as if she was pleading with Gold to make it more permanent.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. She is quite a fighter... given her parents, I'm sure you're not surprised. Both Snow and the Prince were quite known for their resilience."

"Yes, but she's not them." Regina argued.

"Ah, but isn't the problem that she is that exactly?"

* * *

"Emmaaaaaa!" Hannah screeched, running through the hospital to the room Emma was lying dormant. She hasn't stopped running since she overheard Ruby and Leroy talking about the new girl in town collapsing and most likely not making it. She tries to hold back the tears threatening to overcome her emotions.

"Hannah, stop!" A voice yells, grabbing her around her chest and holding her back. She immediately begins fighting back before even seeing who it is detaining her. She thrashes her arms and the grip loosens, and she sees it was her mother holding her.

"You did this!" Hannah yells. "You did this! I don't know how, but it was you! I know it! You want to get rid of her!"

"Hannah, that is enough." Regina says, trying to contain her daughter. "You need to go home. You don't need to see her like this."

"What's your problem?" Hannah explodes. "You say you care about me but you only care about yourself. You don't care about me. You would do anything to protect yourself and your precious little curse. You let your own anger take away from my happiness even after you told me a million times that's what you care most about. You wonder why I don't believe anything you say... because you're a liar. You're a selfish liar and I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

"Hannah!" Regina gasps, not fully taking in the words. "You will not speak to me like that. I'm your mother."

"No you're not! Snow White is my mother! And she doesn't even know it and she's treated me better than you have!"

"Hannah, you're talking insane. You're obviously overtired and need to sleep. I can make an apple turnover for you. Your favorite. We'll walk home together, and tomorrow we'll go see Archie again, alright? How's that sound? Let's go." Regina says calmly, putting her arm around Hannah and hoping she will stop yelling. People in the hospital had started to stop what they were doing to watch the altercation. Unfortunately, Hannah ignored this last request and continued to run to Emma's room.

"Emma." Hannah said, the sight more overwhelming than she expected. Ms. Blanchard was on the other side of the bed by Emma and Hannah went over to join her. Her teacher put her arm around to comfort her and Hannah leaned her head into her. "How come you're here?"

"Well, Emma was our friend, wasn't she? She shouldn't be alone if..." Mary Margaret trailed off, realizing Hannah wasn't ready to hear what she almost said.

Whether she knew what she was going to say or not, Hannah pretended she didn't. She just nodded in agreement.

"I don't want her to leave." Hannah admitted, looking up at her teacher.

"I know." Mary Margaret said, rubbing Hannah's arm, unsure of what else to say to comfort her. She wanted to help, but she knew better than to give her false hope. "How about I let you have some time alone with her? I'll go down to the cafeteria. I'll stay here as long as you'd like me to. You can come find me whenever, okay?"

"Thank you, Ms. Blanchard." Hannah said, giving her teacher a hug before leaving her embrace. Hannah climbed on the bed with Emma. When she sat, her feet didn't touch the ground and she swung them back and forth. She figured she should say something to Emma, that she could probably hear her, but she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry I ran away. I just needed time to think, but it was selfish and if I had never done it you wouldn't have gone looking for me and ended up at Gold's house. And somehow my mom got to you to poison you, or maybe she had Gold do it, I don't know. But my mom was behind it. I know if you could respond you'd tell me he didn't, but he did." Hannah stopped and looked at her sister.

"I'm not worried one bit," Hannah lied. "You're going to come back. You're going to find us all and save us. That's our families thing. Oh Emma! You will never believe this. I figured out who our dad is. Yup, David Nolan. It took me awhile, I know, but I figured it out after seeing him with Ms. Blanchard. That's why they're so pulled to each other. In my defense, the first 10 years of my life he was in a coma so I couldn't really find him. But now I've seen him awake, I know it's him, I'm sure of it. He matches all the pictures."

Hannah suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore, so she laid down next to her sister and closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, she'd figure out what to do next.

* * *

Regina walked with purpose to the pawn shop. She felt tall enough to knock out anyone in her way.

"Gold."

"Ah, Regina, it seems we just can't get enough of each other, can we?" Gold says as Regina smacked a vial of purple puff onto the table. "And this would be?"

"The answer."

"I wasn't aware there was a question being asked."

"Cut the act, Gold. This isn't a game anymore. I'm bringing magic back to Storybrooke to enact a spell." Regina said and watched Gold's eyes widen.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"I'm afraid you have no choice." Regina said, mimicking his tone.

"You'll put my family in danger."

"I'll put them in even more danger if you don't help me."

"What do you need?" Mr. Gold made eye contact with her, keeping his voice completely even. He knew that if Regina did this before Emma woke up, she could change the events of destiny.

"The last piece of the curse is a strand of hair from an innocent soul."

"Why don't you use your daughter?"

At this, Regina looked down. "She's not completely innocent anymore. She's been exposed to the greatest evil of them all: hatred. Because of me."

"So you need a strand of hair from my daughter?" Gold clarified.

"A single strand. No harm will come to her." Regina promised.

"And if I don't comply?"

"I'll kill both of them." Regina said coolly.

* * *

**A/N: a lil fun hint- there is foreshadowing in previous chapters on what regina's spell is going to be. if anyone figures it out you should lemme know ;P**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I originally wrote the breaking of the curse a little differently, but it didn't feel right, so I went back and changed it to make a bit more traditional ****_Once_****style**.**But hope it still works for you guys. Now the good stuff is coming. (at least in my eyes its the good stuff. If they get to Emma in time that is ;P)**

* * *

Gold walked to his daughters room, for the first time, feeling hopeless. He knew he had no chance against Regina if he did not comply. But if Regina got what she wanted, and enacted the curse of the empty-hearted, he would lose his chance at ever seeing his son again. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not in fates plan.

Picking up his daughters hairbrush, he surprised himself with the tears running down his cheek. It was out of character to display such emotion. How could he choose between one child and the other?

He quickly recovered, eliminated any signs of his weakness, and returned to Regina with a vial supplying one single strand of brown hair.

"I knew you would see it my way." Regina snickered.

* * *

"Hannah? Is everything okay?"

"Danielle?" Hannah said, looking up from her sister's hospital bed. "You came?"

"Of course. My mother brought me. Ms. Blanchard is worried about you." Danielle admits.

"Danielle, my sister is going to die. My mom is evil. I don't know what to do... I can't... I can't do anything. Emma is the savior, not me."

"Oh, Han. Would you like to get some hot chocolate in the cafeteria? My mom will take us. Ms. Blanchard will stay with Emma while we go. They already figured it out." Danielle said, and for the first time Hannah looked behind the hospital room to see Belle and Ms. Blanchard waiting for Hannah's reaction. She didn't want to leave Emma, but she did want to talk to Danielle. Since she was the only one who believed her, she figured it was her best shot at figuring out a solution.

"Okay." Hannah agreed and began to walk behind Danielle. Before she left she turned to Emma. "Don't go anywhere while I'm gone, okay?" Hannah said, her voice pleading. After thinking about it a moment, she kissed her sister on the cheek, just in case it was goodbye. "Okay, let's go."

"Oh my god!" Danielle yelled, right before everyone started running into the room. Hannah whipped around to see Emma awake and starting to sit up.

"Emma!" Hannah yelled. "Oh Emma! You're okay! You're really okay!" Hannah cried, her vision blurring from the amount of tears that hadn't fallen out of her eyes yet. Despite the doctors surrounding both of the girls, something in them kept them back while Hannah embraced her.

"Hannah..." Emma said slowly. "You saved me."

"Oh, Emma." Hannah said, not ready to let go of her sister.

"Hannah, we really need to do some tests on Emma." Dr. Whale tried after a few moments. but Hannah wouldn't budge.

"Hannah, let's go get that hot chocolate. Emma will be up and ready when we get back now." Belle said, bending down to eye level with her daughters friend. Emma nodded to tell her to go, which finally made Hannah oblige and jump down from the bed.

"Hannah..." Emma said reaching out and holding Hannah's arm and Hannah turned around to face her.

"Is everything ok?" She said, realizing she was more worried than she should be. Emma nodded to assure her.

"I believe in you."

"You... believe?"

"I believe. In everything." Emma said, and when Hannah ran back to embrace her sister once again, Emma kissed her forehead lightly, and something shifted. Emma and Hannah were left clueless, staring at eachother, while Danielle embraced her mother. They were both crying. Watching them, Hannah turned to Emma in realization.

"You did it," she whispered, half shocked. "You broke the curse."

"I did it?"

"All you had to do was believe." Hannah said, still shocked. "I can't believe it was that easy." Hannah said it shaking her head, and Emma couldn't help but laugh.

"That means..." Hannah said, looking at Ms. Blanchard, who was watching both of them with tears in her eyes.

"Emma... Hannah... you did it. You two did it." Snow said, moving towards her daughters. When she put her arms around both of them, Hannah happily returned the affection, and Emma did her best not to tense up.

"So you're my twin sister, huh? You're kinda young." Emma teased when they broke apart, and Snow let out a laugh.

"Shut up! It's not really fair." Hannah pouted.

"Well... you are definitely ten, no matter what age you were supposed to be." Emma laughed and Hannah continued her pretend pouty face. "So what now?" Emma asked.

"Well... I'd like to find my husband."

"Prince Charming!" Hannah said excitedly. "I can meet my dad!"

"Emma... as much excitement is going on... I think you better not overextend yourself." Dr. Whale says, coming in. "You'd do best to stay and rest."

Emma scrunched her eyebrows at him like he was crazy. "I don't think that's an option right now."

"Emma." Snow said sternly, and Emma turned to her and raised her eyebrows.

"Sheesh. It didn't take you very long to get the motherly tone down." Snow smiled uncontrollably at Emma's sarcastic comment. "What?" Emma asked.

"It's just with all this change... it's nice you're still the Emma I got to know a little before. Even if we didn't know we were mother and daughter."

Emma rolled her eyes, but smiled. "You guys go find him. I'm kinda exhausted anyway. You know, a whole poison curse magic thing... it wears on you."

"Don't I know it?" Snow replied and Hannah let out a loud laugh.

"Are you sure Ems?" Hannah said. Emma would definitely not let that nickname fly if it was coming from anyone else.

"Yes, I know you're dying to go meet Prince Charming. We'll all hang out later." Emma promised.

"Okay!" Hannah said, then hugged her sister again. "I love you Ems," she said seriously.

"Love you too. Now shoo. I'm tired."

* * *

When Emma fell asleep, she was in a black room. There were no windows, or doors, or any way out, except for a single rope in the middle of the room. It looked scary, being so isolated, and she didn't know why she was drawn to it. But for some reason, she had to climb the rope. Every time she grasped it though, a gust of wind from the top pushed her down. Each time she hit the ground, the fall got a little harder. One by one, each bone in her body began breaking. She willed herself to stop, to stop climbing the rope, but she couldn't. And each time it got more and more painful.

Finally she awoke, unsure of her surroundings.

* * *

"Snow White, how lovely it is to see you as yourself again." Mr. Gold said, approaching Snow, Charming, and Hannah in the street. Immediately, Snow moved in front of Hannah to shield her from Gold. "I mean no harm... I think you guys are going to want to hear what I have to say."

"There's nothing we need to hear from you." Charming shot at him.

"Alas, both of your daughters are concerned here, so I think you might want to listen." At the mention of their daughters, Snow rubbed Charming's arm to calm him down. She looked at Gold expectantly, giving him the cue to continue. "Regina is planning something involving both of them. She's bringing magic back to Storybrooke to enact the curse of the empty-hearted."

"What does that do?" Snow says, flinching a little at the word curse.

"It can make someone love you."

"Love? But magic can't do that."

"Well what it does is makes someone think they love you. And for Regina, that would be enough."

"She's going to use it on me." Hannah says dryly, speaking up from behind her mother.

"No, she's not," Snow says, turning to her daughter. "She isn't coming anywhere near you."

"You don't need to worry," Charming adds, looking at his daughter.

"If all she wants is me..."

"Your mother is a complicated woman, Hannah. She wants love from you, but she wants vengeance on the person who took you from her, the person who broke the curse and gave Snow White her happy ending back."

"Emma." Snow said in realization. "But how will this curse affect Emma?"

"The final ingredient of the curse is the heart of the person she hates most."

"But isn't it me? Why wouldn't she just come after me?" Snow cries, the guilt enveloping her voice. "I'm the one she hates!"

"I'm afraid that though Ms. Mills has a strong disdain for you, it requires the person she hates _most_. And right now, it's Emma."

"She's alone in the hospital," Snow says suddenly turning to her husband. "We have to get there. _Now."_

Snow tries to hide her emotions in front of her younger daughter. But as they rush through the streets, Snow can't help but think this is the second time Emma has been an innocent victim for the sole reason of having the misfortune to be born as her daughter.


	12. Chapter 12

_I wish I was strong enough to lift not one, but both of us. Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one, but both of us._

* * *

"Regina..." Emma said, instinctively rubbing her head. She was surrounded by boxes on walls with red glowing in them. Other than that, the room was dark and musty. "Where am I?"

"With my most prized possessions," Regina answered, gesturing with her hand.

"What is this place?" Emma asked curiously, suddenly feeling like she wasn't safe. She had no chains around her, nothing holding her back, but she couldn't move her body.

"It's better if you don't ask questions, Miss Swan. And stop thrashing... there is a paralysis spell on you until I'm ready for what I need."

"And what you need is?"

"Your heart." Regina's smile so big, Emma realized it was the first time she had actually seen it.

"What's that smell?" Emma said, disgusted, peering at the witch like cauldron Regina was mixing in.

"What smell?"

"The one that smells like sweat stains and sour milk." Emma countered, and Regina narrowed her eyes.

"You're awfully forward for someone who is facing their imminent death."

"Yeah, well, I guess death brings out the best in me."

* * *

"She's gone." Snow said, stopping short of Emma's hospital bed. She didn't know if she felt fear, or anger, or guilt more strongly right now. Her younger daughter looked helpless and worried, and she was clueless on how to help either of them. She shouldn't have missed so much. She should have had their whole lives to get to know them.

"Let's find Whale." Charming commanded, moving out of the room. Snow and Hannah followed, and to their surprise quickly met with Mr. Gold walking towards them.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm on your side." He explained. "It's in my best interest."

"We have no reason to trust you."

"I'm aware. But you're left with no choice presently." His argument was valid, and it made both parents feel two inches tall.

"Dr. Whale!" Hannah yelled, spotting him before anyone else. "Where is my sister?"

"What?" He said, sincerely confused. "In the bed, resting."

"What kind of incompetent doctor are you?!" Hannah burst out.

"Hannah!" Snow reprimanded. As much as she felt the same, she knew it wouldn't get anywhere by lashing out. "Dr. Whale, Emma is missing and we know someone who is looking for her. Do you know if Regina came in the hospital today?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Snow. I'm sorry. With the curse breaking and people trying to reunite it's been a little crazy. I'm pretty sure she was here earlier, but I don't recall seeing her go into Emma's room. Actually, things are a bit hazy from when I saw her."

"I know where she is." Gold said.

"You do?" Charming asked.

"Yes. Follow me." And with no other choice, all three of them followed. In the town, things were unbearably crazy. It was hard to focus when people kept approaching Snow and Charming, looking for guidance.

"Your majesties... we're all so lost here. We don't know how to find our families." Grumpy said, slowing down the group following Gold. Gold looked visibly annoyed, and had no interest in hiding it. Snow looked at her husband, both of them conversing without saying a single word.

"There will be a meeting by the clock tower in three hours," Snow said finally. "Do what you can until then. At the meeting, we will figure it out from there." The people around seemed pleased with this, enough so that they scrambled on their way.

"What if three hours isn't enough time? We have to get Emma. We have no idea what we're dealing with." Charming said quietly to his wife as they got on their way.

"We will figure it out." Snow assured him, and then quickly caught up with Gold and Hannah who were approaching a lone building in the woods.

"What is this?" Snow breathed.

"It's where my mom keeps her magic." Hannah explained, looking up at Snow with scared eyes.

"It's going to be okay." Snow said with assurance, bending down to eye level and putting the hair falling in Hannah's face behind her shoulder, and then the remaining shorter pieces behind her ear. Hannah didn't know why this small action made her feel so comforted, but she suddenly feared even more losing her parents and sister.

"I'll go in." Charming offered. "You stay with Hannah."

"No, I'm coming." Hannah said with strength.

"Absolutely not." Charming said without thinking.

"She wants me. I'm the one who can get through to her. What are you going to do? Get down there and kill her?" Hannah said, and then looked at her parents faces and realized that was exactly what they were planning to do. "You're going to kill her?" She said slowly, as if once she finished saying it, it would really be true. "But you're supposed to be the good guys!"

"Hannah, we have to protect the people we love."

"No! This is not how you do it." Hannah said. "Please just let me come with you. I can talk to her. She will listen to me."

"Hannah we can't take that risk. You're the one she wants to put the spell on. If we bring you down there, we're just making it that much easier for her to get to you." Snow explained softly. Reluctantly, Hannah nodded.

"Okay." Snow said to Charming and Gold. Gold used his newly returned magic to open the door and passage to Regina. Before any of them could process the next moments, Hannah was sprinting down the stairs to where she knew her mom was.

"That little-" Gold started, but stopped at the death stares from both Snow and Charming.

"Let's go." Snow said looking at Charming. Gold stayed outside, citing his limp as the cause, but he had a pretty decent idea of what was about to happen.

* * *

"Mom!" A voice called, and Regina whipped around.

"Hannah! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."

"Mom... what are you doing? Why are you doing this?" Hannah cried.

"Hannah, please. You need to get out of here."

"No! I know what you're doing! I know you're trying to make me love you, but it won't work. I will never love you like this!"

"Hannah, I'm so sorry about this." Regina said, lifting her hand and curling it until Hannah was knocked out on the ground.

"Hannah!" Emma screamed, thinking about nothing but stopping Regina from hurting her sister. She was surprised by the sudden movement in her limbs. The freedom already felt foreign to her after the paralysis spell. "Get away from her."

"Emma how did you..."

"Emma!" Snow and Charming called, seeing Emma standing up first. "Hannah!" They followed, leaning down to see Hannah knocked out.

"Get out of here." Emma said, and her words came out like a snarl. Regina walked over to Hannah and kissed her forehead, moving her hand to undo the spell to knock her unconscious.

"Mom...?" Hannah said, Regina being the first person she saw.

"Hannah, listen to me." Regina said, holding Hannah's head. "No matter what anyone tells you, I love you more than anything in the world. I would do anything for you." Hannah nodded and with a puff of purple smoke, Regina was gone. The four family members looked at each other in shock.

"Thank god you two are okay." Snow said, looking at her daughters.

"Did you ever doubt us?" Hannah teased, and Snow looked too relieved to argue.

"Let's just get home now." Charming suggested lightly. At the simple word choice, Emma realized with all that had happened, she had forgotten she was supposed to go back to Boston today. By the look on Hannah's face, she knew she just remembered too.

"Home. That sounds like a plan." Emma agreed. She saw in her parents and sisters eyes how much it meant to them.

"It sounds lovely," Snow agreed. "But I think we have some business to attend to with the town, on account of the fact our daughter just happened to break the Evil Queen's curse earlier today."

* * *

**A/N: I was thinking of doing something fun, i was wondering what you guys would think if i asked a question or something at the end of a chapter for fun, possibly a prediction or something, than whoever got it i would name a character after them? it seems silly i guess but i thought it might be fun! i dont know how else to thank you guys for reading and reviewing:) if you guys think of a better way i would be happy to oblige ;P**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I just wanted to mention one real quick thing to keep in mind while reading the next few chapters (and the rest of the story) Emma is twenty, _not_ twenty eight. It's very different stages in her life. She just aged out of foster care two years ago, which really isn't nearly as much as ten years, so those feelings of being a lost, abandoned little girl are a bit "fresher". Emma hasn't quite settled completely into an adult life as she would have had she been 28. So she will take on some younger qualities but also be struggling with her independence. That being said, Emma's dynamic with her parents is one of my favorites, and I love those progressive moments with them.

Also I wrote two chapters, to update today and tomorrow, but for some reason I decided to combine it so this actually a double update! Hope you guys enjoy the longer chapter :) Fun stuff coming. Please review... it keeps my inspiration going ;P

* * *

"So... town meeting? You guys are still the royals here huh?" Emma joked, following her parents out of the building containing Regina's magic.

"No. They are just seeking direction and we are happy to provide any we can." Snow clarified.

"So royals." Emma reiterated. She watched her parents walk in front of her, holding hands with each other. It seemed like they were whispering with each other. Emma had been around enough people to know when it wasn't her business though. Hannah stayed behind with Emma, walking side by side with her.

"Emma," Snow said, suddenly stopping and turning around. Her face was more serious looking at Emma than when she turned to her younger daughter. "Hannah," she smiled, knowing Hannah's reaction would be easier. "We should talk first." Snow said, exhaling, and Charming shot her an exasperated look.

"About what?" Hannah asked innocently.

"Well, everything. We're together now, we're safe, and we're a family. I want to know everything about you guys."

"There's nothing to talk about." Emma snapped, a little meaner than she intended. "Your people need you, anyway." Emma continued walking, moving in front of her family. She suddenly felt really overwhelmed with everything, but she wanted to know what was going on with everyone.

"There's another matter we need to talk about..." Charming said privately to Snow, holding her arm back from catching up with Emma. He was pretty sure Emma didn't mean her last statement maliciously and needed a bit of space.

"Which matter are you referring to?"

"The, um, I was married to Kathryn and she had adopted a son two years ago matter." Charming said, clearing his throat.

"Oh... right. You know, it's odd that you had a son while we under the curse. How was that possible that Kathryn got ahold of an adoption agency? She couldn't leave the town and no one else could come in."

"And there's no way she could have had a baby, because time stood still. A baby couldn't have even developed, nevermind have grown two years."

"And you were in a coma when the baby came... Hmm. That's something we should probably look into a little further."

"Agreed. But Cam... I can't just forget him. He's important to me."

"I understand," Snow said, rubbing her husband's arm. "He's a good kid." She tried not to think about the idea of her husband raising a child with another woman, while their daughters were lost and parentless. Well, Hannah wasn't completely, but she _was_ being raised by the person who Snow knew as the Evil Queen.

* * *

The town was completely abuzz. It seemed like everyone had spent the past three hours running around in frantic circles instead of looking for their families. Emma had been relatively quiet since snapping at Snow in the woods, and she felt a little clueless with all these people staring at them now. Granted she was sure they were staring at Snow and Charming, but she was walking with them, so she had to endure some of the stares too. Hannah seemed open to these people, wanting to help more than anything, and accepting their looks of wonder.

"Thank you all for your patience," Charming started. "I know this must be very confusing for everyone. The dual personalities is complicated for all of us. However, we have set up with Sheriff Graham a board outside the sheriff's office where pictures are being posted with their correct names. If you haven't taken a picture, please see Graham or Ruby as soon as possible." When Charming finished, a sense of calmness seemed to fill the air.

"Ohhh-K." Emma said awkwardly. "Well."

"I'm going to head over to the Sheriffs station and try and help get it as organized as possible." Charming says to all his family.

"Can I come? I want to help. Since I already found my family." Hannah says shyly, looking up at her parents and knowing they couldn't say no.

"Of course. I'm sure you'll be a big help." Snow answered, and Hannah took her dads hand and started walking. It was somewhat unexpected even for Hannah, but David took it happily. Snow smiled at the sight of her daughter and husband.

"So," Emma said, clearing her throat. "What's next?"

"What's next is... we move your stuff into the apartment and go from there." Snow realized Emma probably wouldn't like how it wasn't phrased as a question and didn't give her much choice, but she smiled, looking almost relieved. At the room in Granny's Inn, Snow was genuinely surprised at how little Emma had. There were two boxes only, still packed.

"Emma... where is all your stuff?"

"This is all I have."

"You brought everything you own?"

"Well it's not exactly a lot. I'm not sentimental." Emma explained, not wanting to admit the fact she never had the opportunity to be. Snow gave her daughter a half disbelieving look before noticing the white knit blanket with Emma stitched in purple.

"Your baby blanket," Snow breathed. She held it up to her face and before she even realized, tears were running down her face. She could remember the exact feeling when she realized they had no choice but to send Emma through alone. As she held the blanket in her hands, it was like she was still in that moment. She could still feel the dread and shock as she felt the contractions, the realization of another baby coming, one they couldn't save.

"Yeah, I don't know why I kept it this long to be honest." Emma admitted. "It used to just make me even angrier."

"It upset you? Why?" Snow asked, confused.

"Because." Emma said. "All I knew was that I had parents drop me off on the side of the road and abandon me in a blanket with my name on it. I never understood why they cared enough to name me before dropping me off." If Emma looked up and saw her mother's face, she probably would have stopped, but unfortunately she was avoiding eye contact. "I wanted to change my name most of my childhood. I hated that they got to pick my name before leaving me. No foster parent ever cared enough to pay the twenty bucks so I could do it. I eventually stopped asking." Finally, Emma looked up, immediately feeling terrible over every word. Snow's eyes were so abundant with tears, Emma wondered if you could drown your own self. "But I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I'm still Emma."

"Me too." Snow nodded, her eyes still full.

"We should get going," Emma suggested. "Maybe we could all go out to dinner tonight. All four of us."

Snow nodded and then wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Emma. For making you uncomfortable with my emotions." Snow finished with a small laugh, and it made Emma feel more at ease.

"It's fine," Emma tells her. "Today's been sort of a roller coaster with everyone involved."

* * *

"Emma! You will never believe what happened today!" Hannah said excitedly as Emma and Snow approached the booth. Emma watched Charming smile at Snow, obviously knowing what she was gonna say.

"What?" Emma said, turning to Hannah.

"I met Cinderella! Did you know her name is actually just Ella?"

"I didn't," Emma admits. "But it does sound similar."

"I guess," Hannah shrugs. "They got so many things wrong in the stories."

"I know right? It's like they just made everything up." Emma agrees.

"I know!"

"What stories?" Snow chimed in.

"Your stories," Hannah explained. "I didn't even know they existed until I went to Boston. They tell your stories, all of you guys, but they're all wrong."

"They're a big franchise in the real world." Emma explains.

"But in your story, they only tell how Prince Charming woke you with a kiss. They don't mention anything you did to save him." Hannah says, glancing at her father. "And they say you got tricked into eating the apple... it's just all wrong. They don't even know about me and Emma or the curse."

"Well they missed the best part then." Charming said, sure of himself. Hannah smiled proudly, and Emma didn't know how to reply. She wished she didn't feel so awkward in these situations. Her mind automatically tried to justify it, which brought her back to her past, which made her angrier. Because somehow the blame always ended up on her parents in her mind.

"The curse was the best part?" She said finally after a few moments of silence.

"You know what I me-" he starts to explain himself but Red comes over.

"Family dinner?" She smiles.

"Something like that." Snow smiles.

"Well how can I start my favorite family off?" Red asked. Hannah ordered a chocolate milk, the rest of them asked for just water.

* * *

Regina was in her office packing it up, trying not to think of what was going to happen next. Truthfully she had no idea. She was in a town she created, in which she couldn't leave, and she knew, better than anyone, the magic that lied in the Savior. There was no way home, no home to get back to. She had done all this for Daniel, for revenge, but was it really worth it? Before she lets herself wonder if Daniel would have been happy with this, her mind glosses over it. It's something she's never allowed herself to ponder.

The skeleton keys. They were always a sign of the power she had. She could get anywhere, whenever she wanted, and no one would ever know. They were the ultimate sign of power, but they meant nothing anymore. Still, she dropped them in the box on her desk. She sat down, giving herself a break from a moment. Her mind wandered to Hannah, wondering what she was doing. Using the clear ball she always used as decoration, she waved her hand over it to see Hannah with her family at Granny's Diner. As much as she hated her being with them, she hated even more how she looked happier than she had ever been with her. She looked at the blonde, sitting awkwardly and smiling along with Hannah's laughs. She didn't have the time to process her rage when green smoke appeared in her office.

"What in the hell..." Regina said, getting up and swatting her hand in the smoke. As she spoke, some smoke found it's way down to Regina's lungs and she let out a hacking cough. When she looked up, a woman with red hair and a giant green pendant stood in front of her. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh sis... I'm honestly so hurt you don't remember me."

"Remember you? I don't even know you."

"Ah, you do, but you have forgotten. But that's not of importance, really. My name is Zelena."

"What are you doing here, Zelena? And how did you get here?"

"I'm here for you, little sister."

"Little sister?" Regina challenged. "I don't have any siblings."

"Are you going to waste time arguing with me about our bloodline or do you want to know how I can help you?"

"Help with what." Regina says it showing her disbelief with clarity.

"With the only thing you want, of course. Getting Hannah back."

"How did you..." Regina's mouth dropped. She didn't like the sound of her daughter's name on someone else's mouth, especially not this woman's.

"Nevermind," Zelena said, waving her hand. "We don't have time on our side. Make your choice."

* * *

On the ride home from the diner, Hannah had fallen asleep in the car within moments.

"A long day organizing a town?" Snow teased Charming when she saw Hannah zonked out.

"You wouldn't believe it."

Emma watched her parents talk and scrolled through her phone. She realized how little she had before, because not one person, save Lauryn, even noticed she was missing. She sent in a letter of resignation to her boss through email, and got only a simple reply assuring she received it. Even Lauryn, who sent her a text, seemed to be doing it just out of curiosity. When she explained she had family matters to attend to, Lauryn didn't even question it, although she was well aware Emma had no known family. She looked through facebook, not even knowing how she knew half the people who appeared on her newsfeed. There were so many pictures of children and families. For the first time in her life, Emma saw the pictures and realized she had one of her own surrounding her. It was a strange feeling, like it was some type of dream that was ending as soon as she said or did the wrong thing.

"Snow... I was thinking, maybe tomorrow we could spend the day with Cam. All together. I want you to get to know him. I mean, I'm just getting to know him myself..."

"I would love to." Snow says, and kisses her husband's cheek. Emma can't help but feel a little weird, and realizes she was staring at her parents.

"Emma, do you mind?" Charming asks.

"Do I... mind? I just was..." Emma says, thinking he was asking her to not look at their display of affection. She was a little taken aback at him outright asking that.

"About Cam. Him spending the day with us." Charming clarifies. Emma realized she had assumed she wasn't a part of it. She definitely had to get used to this whole being part of a family and people wanting her around thing.

"Oh. No, I don't mind."

When they got home, no one wanted to wake Hannah, so Charming carried her up the steps to the apartment. Because no one really knew where Hannah was planning to stay most of the time, Charming set her down on his and Snow's bed while Snow pulled out the couch. Emma was staying in the loft room. Neither Snow or Charming had the heart to move Hannah and were deciding to sleep on the couch when Emma quietly excused herself to go to sleep, citing exhaustion. She wasn't lying. Her head pounded because she was so tired and confused. She closed her eyes desperately, trying to get the awful picture out of her head, but every time she closed them it was like the details got even sharper. She woke up unsure of her surroundings, crying out for help.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hiya guys. Here's ch 14. I have a few chapters written out but it's kind of like this is point A and they are point B and C and I have to figure out how exactly I want to get there. I don't know when that will come exactly. It might be tomorrow, or next week. I'm going to think on it. I have some time to do that, so we'll see. I just want to make it all fit nicely, and I'd rather take the time and make a better story than rush it just to keep updating. Thanks for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing. Reviews give me inspiration too, so it's really rewarding.**

* * *

"Emma! Wake up!"

"Emma, you're okay! Everything is fine."

She can hear the voices in the distance. They sound familiar. It sounds like they're trying to wake her up from a nightmare. But she's not in a nightmare, no, she's in a much more frightening place. She is in reality. It's not the first time she's had these vivid memories, but this time it feels like she was actually transported back in time, watching it happen to her again. It's like the memories are getting even stronger.

She jumps awake, to find herself in an apartment she doesn't recognize with a man and woman calling her name. They look relieved.

"Emma! Are you okay?"

"Y-yes." She says hesitantly. As her vision comes into focus she recognizes the room she fell asleep in, the people at her bed are her parents. Her parents. "Did I wake you?"

"We hadn't gone to sleep yet." Snow lied. At this, Emma nodded, visibly relieved.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Honestly... I'd really prefer not to." They both looked disappointed, but she's sure they would have expected it. "I didn't wake Hannah, did I?"

"No," Charming answered this one honestly. "That girl sleeps like a rock."

* * *

When Emma woke up the next time, she could hear an array of voices downstairs. It sounded like some type of party. Of course she had just gotten used to waking up to silence and complete privacy, so it would be a big adjustment going back. She wondered how long she would last living in this small apartment with so many people, assuming Hannah stayed. She did want to get to know Hannah better.

She decided to get dressed for the day before going downstairs. For some reason being seen in pajamas felt a little too intimate for this new family, although she couldn't really explain why. They had been at her bed last night, but it felt different going downstairs in them. Plus she wasn't entirely sure she didn't dream that whole thing from last night.

"Oh Emma, hi!" A blonde woman said, noticing Emma first. Emma recognized her as Kathryn, the woman who gave her directions to Hannah. She seemed nice enough.

"Uh hi." Emma said, not wanting to say her name greeting her just in case she was wrong.

"Kathryn was just dropping Cam off for the day." Charming said, holding the little boy. With a chubby face and a matching knit sweater and hat covering his swoopy brown hair, he was pretty cute. Still Emma found herself wishing she had more alone time with her parents. Kathryn announced that she was leaving, and Emma noticed pancakes on the table.

"Are you hungry?" Snow asked, noticing Emma eyeing the pancakes.

"A little," she admitted. She sat down at the island and Snow put a plate in front of her. It was like being waited on. She watched her mother carefully, perhaps out of pure curiosity, when the sound of a male's voice made her turn around, seeing Kathryn frozen in place by the doorway.

"It will wear off in only moments, dearies. We must talk fast." Mr. Gold said, walking into the apartment past Kathryn.

"Get away from my family." Charming said, stepping in front of everyone.

"Stand down," Mr. Gold said, uninterested. "If I was interested in hurting your family, there is nothing you could do to stop me."

"That's where you're wrong." Charming's voice was sharp as he responded, but his wavering confidence in what he was saying showed.

"It's no matter. I've come to warn you guys."

"Why?" Snow said, moving next to Charming. "Why do you keep helping us?"

"Because they have the upper hand. And I need your girls to stay alive."

"What do their lives matter to you?" Snow pushed.

"Oh, time will tell you that, there's no need for me to. But for now, neither of your girls are safe. They are coming after both of them, for different reasons. But neither will survive."

"Who's they? Is it Regina? Is she working with someone?"

"Someone even more powerful than she. I can't explain it all to you in-depth now, but I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. I can bring all five of you to safety." Gold said, looking at the toddler that Charming put in the high chair next to Emma.

"Shouldn't we fight?" Charming asked. "If they're coming after our daughters? If we don't fight they won't ever stop."

"I'm afraid that fight would be futile."

* * *

Snow didn't know where she was going or for how long, so she quickly stuffed things she thought might come in handy in a duffel bag. Despite the fact Gold told her they wouldn't need anything, it felt too empty-handed to be leaving for somewhere for an indefinite amount of time completely empty-handed. When she came out, the rest of her family was by the door with Gold. Both of her daughters looked frightened, Hannah more so than Emma. Emma looked... well she looked almost angry.

"Hey Emma, are you okay?" Snow asked, walking to catch up to Emma. She had been keeping a steady pace ahead the rest of her family and right behind Gold. Gold was walking them through the woods. He told them he was taking them to his pawn shop and he had a place within there, but walking through the town would cause too much attention. So they would walk through the ends and enter the shop through the back of the building.

"Am I okay?" Emma said, stepping on a twig and snapping it. "Nothing about this is okay." At Snow's taken aback expression, Emma felt even angrier that she didn't get it. "I'm walking through the woods, with a family I don't even know, to escape some magical being that apparently wants me dead. Nothing about this is normal or okay."

"I know," Snow tried. "But once we get through this, we can get to know each other, we can be a real family."

"Can we, though? I just escaped Regina trying to kill me, and for half a second I thought it could be normal. But it really can't, can it? This is how life around here works. Always trying to fight and escape evil."

"That's not true. There's plenty of good people."

"What, like you?" Emma said, laughing sarcastically. She didn't care how mean she was being.

"Well, I..."

"How can you delude yourself into thinking you're so good? You gave only one of your children up and stayed with the other. You left me to grow up with no one. I had no one. No one was there to make sure I brushed my hair, or ate my vegetables, or went to bed on time, because no one ever cared. I was completely alone my whole life. I know you wanted me to escape the curse, but you gave me one of my own that was just as bad."

Stunned, Snow looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. She wanted to be mad, but she couldn't. Emma had every right to hate her. She was lucky she even gave her this much of a chance. She nodded at her daughter, telling her she understood what she was saying. As soon as she did, Emma walked ahead, leaving Snow to imagine every terrible thing she made Emma endure.

_You're torturing yourself_, Snow thought, _stop it. _But then another thought swam in her mind. _Just like you tortured her._

* * *

"Hannah, what are you doing? We have to stay with everyone." Emma said, seeing Hannah sitting on a log by a tiny river. The walk through the woods was much longer than walking through the town, and felt even longer with the awkward silence after her fallout with her mother. Gold had allowed a stop at her parents insistance that Cam needed a snack break.

"I know."

"So why are you sitting here by yourself?"

"I just wanted to think."

"Think about what?"

"Everything," Hannah admitted, looking up at Emma. "If I did the right thing by bringing you here."

"Oh."

"You just seem so unhappy. I'm glad you broke the curse and I got my parents back, but... are you?"

"I don't know," Emma admitted back to her. "Hannah, it's... complicated. I'm glad I got you though." Emma said smiling, giving her sister a little shove. Hannah couldn't hold in her smile when both girls heard a noise coming from the forest.

"We should get back." Hannah said urgently. Emma nodded, taking Hannah's hand getting up. As soon as she stood up, she felt a blow to her head. It felt like a bowling ball and Emma tried to steady her balance before hopelessly falling to the ground, her mind going black.

The man looked disheveled and deranged, almost mad. He put handcuffs around Emma quickly and spoke to Hannah.

"If you yell or run, I will kill her right now," he said, motioning to the gun in his belt. "Come with me now, quietly."

Hannah stared at him, and back at Emma, deciding what to do. Finally she began walking with him, opposite from where she left her parents and Gold.

"How old are you?" He said turning to Hannah.

"What?"

"How... old... are... you?" He repeated, this time, exceptionally slow.

"Who needs to know?" Her tone was much more confident than she felt, but he only laughed at it.

"Nevermind. I already know way more about you than I need to."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **HI guys! IM SO EXCITED! Yesterday I went over my best friends house who's an artist so she painted while I wrote and the ideas came to me so quickly! I finally figured out the bridge I wanted. It's three chapters, so I've decided to post a chapter a day throughout the weekend. Here's the first one. The last one is a pretty important one, to me, at least. It's a big family scene and involves Emma's past. Also it may leave you with some questions, so expect that, but they will all be answered soon enough I promise. Anyway, here's the beginning of it. Hope you like! Thanks for the favs/follows/reviews! I love your thoughts and predictions so much.

* * *

"Do you know wanna know where we're going?" The madman asked Hannah. He was holding Emma like a baby while they were walking.

"No." Hannah said, sure of herself. "I don't care."

"You don't care? That's a little rash."

"It doesn't matter where we are going." She explained, "because my parents are going to find you. And kill you." She said it so matter-of-factly that the man couldn't hold in his laugh. Hannah narrowed her eyes, thinking that surely her parents were looking by now, and the louder sounds he makes, the easier it is on them. He clearly was underestimating her.

"You're far too sure of yourself for a little girl with parents who already lost to an evil curse."

"They didn't lose. We won. Emma broke it and we're a family."

"But look at you now. You grew up without your parents. Emma grew up without any parents. Your twin sister is ten years older than you because of time manipulation. Does it feel like winning?"

Hannah had no reply, so she huffed. She wouldn't let him get to her. She tried to think of how to get away, but it was nearly impossible with an unconscious Emma. _Come on Emma, wake up._ If Emma woke up, they most definitely could knock him out and run back. If she knocked the madman out, she could maybe run and find her parents and they could come back for Emma. But what if he woke up when she was gone and took Emma? Then they would never find her. The more time she took to decide what to do, the further she got from finding her parents. She figured her best shot was knocking him out somehow.

"I'm thirsty." Hannah said to the man.

"I couldn't care less."

"I'll scream."

"No you won't," he countered. "Because I'll kill you."

"No you won't," she mirrored. "Because you need us alive... or me, at least."

"What gave you that delusion?"

"Because you would have killed us by now. And I'm thirsty. Bring me to a river to drink or I'll scream." Hannah bargained, and the madman looked defeated.

"Fine." He gruffed. At this point, Emma was swung over his shoulder and he used his free hand to push branches out of the way to a hidden river. Hannah scrunched her eyes, trying to plan the quickest route of escape. Leaning down to the river, she cupped her hands and sipped a little out of them. She watched him place the unconscious Emma on the ground. He sat down, letting his guard down to take a break. Hannah knew this was her chance.

The rock felt heavy in her hands, and she wondered if her guilt was weighing her down any. She had to get behind him without him noticing, which would prove to be hard, knowing he was going to watch her like a hawk.

"What are you doing?" He said suspiciously when Hannah sat down by Emma. He sat kneeled down on the opposite of her.

"Do you mind? I'd like to talk to my sister."

"You know she's unconscious, right? She can't hear you."

"She can. Plus, what does it matter to you? I'll be quick and then I'll cooperate while you take us to whatever terrible place we are going."

He stared at her, as if her face would give away what she truly meant. But she held her face firm and he relented. As he turned around, Hannah knew she didn't have another moment to wait. It was this moment, or never.

* * *

"The best plan of action here is to get you three to the safety shelter and then I _will_ find Emma and Hannah."

"Absolutely not, that's not even an option. We're wasting moments now when we could be finding them."

"Snow..." Charming's voice was almost quiet. "I can't be of much help with Cam. And I can't put him in danger."

"But our daughters," Snow said. "They're _our daughters._ There's no options here."

"If they get all of you, it's just more leverage against the girls to get what they want." Gold tried to reason.

"I'm not so sure. I'm not exactly Emma's first priority right now."

"Still. It would be better to have you safe. I promise I will find them." When Gold said this, Snow looked at Charming, and he looked like he agreed. She thought about relenting, thought about what Emma said about always having to fight.

"I have to look for them. I can't just sit by when someone could be hurting them."

"Snow..." Charming said.

"No. You can come, or you can not. I won't hold it against you. But I need to look for them."

"Gold," Charming said exasperated and turning towards him. "Please take Cam to safety. I'm asking you parent-to-parent to understand."

Gold nodded. "I'll bring him there and leave him in Belle's care. I'll await for you by the back entrance of the shop." Snow and Charming both nodded.

As they walked in silence, Snow thought hard about what her daughters knew about surviving if they were on their own in the woods. This woods wasn't too hard to survive in. She thought it more superficial than the woods in the Enchanted Forest. There was easy streams with clean water, the trees were low, and the town was less than 10 miles if they walked in the right direction. Still, Snow doubted they had much forest experience. Maybe Emma could survive a bit better than Hannah. Hopefully Emma was looking out for Hannah.

"We should leave a trail." Snow said, decidedly.

"What if the wrong person sees it, though?" Charming responded, raising a good point. It would be putting them in more danger.

"But what if they see it and it leads them to us? It may be worth it."

"It will have to be subtle. Something most people wouldn't even understand means anything."

"They're not trail following experts, David." Snow said, looking at her husband. "What do you propose?"

"I don't know," he admits. "Perhaps not. It's not worth running the risk that they miss it and someone else doesn't. It's better to make it obvious." As soon as he said it, Snow nodded, using her small dagger to E + H in the tree. She's sure they'll recognize their initials.

* * *

"Emma... waaaaaake up." Hannah sang softly. Hannah sat in the dirt, trying not to touch any leaves and make unnecessary noise. She didn't know how long she had been hiding here, but she knew was starving and tired. After hitting the madman in the head, she knew she had only once chance. She couldn't leave Emma, so she held onto her legs and dragged her as far as she could. Then she found the best hiding spot she could. She had no idea how long it been, but she had a feeling the madman would be waking up soon and looking for them. That is, if he wasn't already. She knew she couldn't fight him off and protect Emma if he found them. She needed Emma to wake up. She had been out for so long now. She was so tired, but if she slept, they both could get hurt.

She decided to lay down, just for a minute. Then she'd get up and stand guard. She laid her head over Emma and let her eyes close for a minute. She'd just rest for one minute and get up. She started to count to sixty. When she woke up again, it was to the sound of Emma's voice.

"Hannah? Where are we? What is going on?" She looked disheveled and distraught.

"Emma!" Hannah said excitedly. She cupped her small hands around Emma's face and squeezed it.

"Wheh-are-we?" Emma said again with her face being squished.

"It's a long story," Hannah said, letting Emma's face go back to normal and sitting next to her. "There's a madman after us in addition to my mom and whoever she's working with... it's not a great situation. He's possibly looking for us right now. I hit him with a rock. Anyway, we need to find our parents and Gold again. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Sitting at the river with you. You saying we should get back."

Hannah nodded. "That's when he hit you. He put handcuffs on you, but I figured out how to get them off with a tiny stick."

"Since when can you pick locks?" Emma said, laughing, looking at the open handcuffs on the ground next to them.

"Since my sister needed me to." She shrugged like it was no big deal to pick it up quickly.

"So what's next?" Emma said, shrugging off how cute it was of her little sister to say that.

"I'm sure they're looking for us, but we need to find our parents. Then we can go to Gold's shop together."

"Why don't we just go to Gold's shop from here?"

"Because our parents are out here looking for us."

"How do you know? Maybe they think we already made it there, or they're waiting for us there."

Hannah shook her head. "No. They're looking for us. I think now that we're prepared we can handle the madman if he approaches us again. Let's go."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N**: Long note (but long chapter too, so it's okay), I'm going to address the review I got on the last chapter. Guest review- first of all thank you SO much for reading, reviewing and loving the story! You don't know how happy that makes me that you've been enjoying it! In regards to Charming being OOC last chapter, I apologize for the poor execution of Charming's thoughts. (Answering the other guest review- he was in the coma for twenty years and woke up outside of the story, after Emma had come to Storybrooke. To the other part of your question, well, you'll have to keep reading). You can imagine his thought process as something along the lines of "Let me get Snow and Cam to safety before I go out and find the girls. Ok well, Snow isn't going to have any of it, surprise surprise, ok fine, Gold, can you please look out for Cam for me" He thought convincing Snow to get to safety would have a better shot if he went too. Hope that helps explain it a lil. Thank you again for your review. Truly, I find it really helpful. This little arc of chapters are more about Snow/Emma, so I've been poring over them and I realize I need to spend a little more time on Charming's POV.

Anyway, to every amazing reader, enjoy part 2/3. If you leave a review, know you put a smile on my face for the rest of the day:)

* * *

"Why are you here empty-handed?" Regina said unimpressed. She looked like a true evil queen, sitting in a large black chair alongside Zelena. Both looked like power-hungry, sad individuals, Jefferson thought. But they're the only ones who can bring Grace back to him.

"They got away," Jefferson admitted. "But I'm going back out there stronger than ever."

"And how do you plan that?" Zelena pushed.

"With your help, Your Majesties." He said, bowing his head. He tried not to roll his eyes when his head was ducked.

"Magic?" Regina said.

"Yes. Just to take the power away from both of them until I get them here. The little one is stronger and smarter than I anticipated and I can't carry both of them knocked out with a rock."

Regina looked wary of the request, but Zelena was nodding her head.

"Zelena, we didn't talk about using magic on my daughter. All magic has a consequence. I don't want Hannah to pay any of them."

"Relax, dear sis, she will be fine. Do you want her back or not?"

"I do, of course I do, but-"

"Then trust me, this is the only way. Otherwise she'll always choose _them_ over you." Zelena said it particularly sharp to make sure the words truly cut Regina.

"Okay, do what you have to do." Regina said, facing Jefferson. "Bring both of them back here."

Jefferson nodded, holding out his hand for Zelena to enchant it with temporary magic.

* * *

"Hannah, look," Emma said, pointing to a tree. "It says E + H. Did you do this?"

"When would I have had time to do that?" Hannah challenges.

"I was just making sure," Emma said. "That means..."

"It was for us to find," Hannah finished. "There's more. We just have to find it."

"You were right." Emma finally admitted, to her own disbelief.

"I know," her reply was distracted. "Here's another one! We must be going the right way!"

"What if we're going the opposite way?"

"Do you have to be so negative Ems?"

"I'm trying to be realistic."

"We're doing the best we can." She says it so simply, but it makes Emma stop replying. The best we can. That was enough for her. Of course, it had to be. It was the best they could do. It was so easy for her... but why couldn't it always be like that? If you know you're doing the best you can, you need to find peace with yourself. If you're being the best version of yourself, then be happy with it until you learn to do better; then do better. It was so simple.

"Hannah?" The voice was surprised and small, but it was unmistakable.

"Mom? Mom!" Hannah said, running into Snow's arms. Charming wrapped his arms around both Hannah and Snow, relief flooding through him like a current. Until he had seen Hannah safe and okay, he didn't realize how worried he was. He didn't let himself think of it. When Emma walked up to them, she looked at Snow awkwardly and moved to Charming. He put his arm around her, too thankful to question it. He'd worry about it later, he promised himself.

"I knew you'd find us." Hannah said, still tightly in her parents embrace. She looked up.

"You found us," Snow corrected, putting her hand under Hannah's chin.

"Well... not to interrupt the emotional party... but should we go? There's kind of someone after us."

"Who?" Charming said, ready to fight.

"I'll tell you everything on the way. But Emma's right. We really need to get going." Hannah said to support of her sister's suggestion.

As they walked, Hannah filled her parents in on everything. Emma tried to explain her point of view as much as possible, but her memory was void most of the time. Hannah explained Emma getting hit with a rock, and the madman threatening to kill Emma if Hannah didn't go. She described the madman, and her parents knew who it was immediately. Apparently he was the mad-hatter in the story book. Of course. She couldn't believe she didn't get it, but in her own defense, she was preoccupied. She explained knowing that Snow and Charming would come looking for them, and how she had to drag Emma by her feet to escape.

"Hannah... you were so brave." Snow says, trying to process everything.

"Well," Hannah said, her cheeks turning red, "have you met my parents?". Snow and Charming looked at each other over her head and smiled. For a moment they weren't in Storybrooke hiding from Regina. They were in the Enchanted Forest, walking casually with their daughters, and everything was exactly how it was a supposed to be.

Only for a moment, though.

"Well, here we go." Charming breathed as they approached the back of the building. Gold was waiting just as he said he would, outside the back door.

"I'm glad to see all four of you have made it back in good health." Gold said as they approached.

"Well, there was a man trying to abduct our daughters, and he assaulted Emma," Snow clarified. "Would he be working for Regina?"

"Quite possibly. It's best to get you inside quickly." No one needed further instruction to follow Gold in the building. They were in the back room of the pawn shop, and Gold opened a wooden cabinet using magic. It was obviously sealed.

"I have figured out a protection spell. It's never been done before so I don't know how long or effectively it will work, but it's our best shot." As he explained, everyone nodded, trying to drink up the information. "I will show where you will be staying, and then I will close off the door. You'll all need to drink this once you get inside. You can come out as much as you please, but only the ones who drink it will be able to get back in. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Charming responded, looking at his family and seeing them all nod.

"Then let's go," Gold said, and waved his hand. The large table in the middle of the floor moved to show a trap door underneath it. It was almost transparent with the floor. If they didn't know to look for it, they wouldn't have even noticed it.

"Are you sure we should trust him?" Snow asked Charming quietly.

"Do we really have a choice at this point?" He asked it as if he was sincerely wondering if Snow had any other ideas.

Snow shook her head. "I'll go first just in case."

"I'll go last after the girls get down safely." At their agreement, Snow moves ahead right behind Gold. He hands her the potion, telling her he can't go down with her.

"Gold, wait. What about Cam?" Charming asks, as if he just realized Cam won't be able to come down if he doesn't come now.

Gold shook his head. "I'm afraid he's too young. This is an extremely powerful protection spell. There's no way someone his size could handle the power in even one sip of the potion."

"But we can't just leave him... they could get him. They know to go to Kathryn."

"He's still with Belle and Danielle. I'll talk to Kathryn. I promise we'll keep Cam safe. This is only temporary, remember."

Charming nodded, realizing he has no other choice. He loved Cam, but someone was after his girls. He had to be there to protect them. He already missed his first chance. There was no way he'd let it happen again.

"Why are you doing this?" Snow asked again, finally taking the potion from Gold's outstretched hand.

"Trust me, I care for their best interest just as well as you."

Something in Gold's voice made Snow shiver internally, but she knew there was no use dwelling on it. He was helping them after all. She looked back at her family and took a deep breath, going down the dark stairs.

The apartment was small, but still bigger than the loft Mary Margaret had. When you walked in, it was an open living room with a brown floor and white walls. The kitchen was more of a kitchenette, but there was a dining area coming off it. More than that, there was three bedrooms and two bathrooms, which was a nice size for their family. There was a television on a shelf in front of the couch, and Snow wondered if it worked. There was quite an extensive collection of movies under the shelf the tv sat on. Other than that, there was a five layer book shelf stocked with books. The lack of entertainment quickly made Snow calculate how they could pass time. Well we'll be figuring a way out of here and how to defeat Regina, so we won't have to worry about that. But what about Hannah?

"It's kind of big." Hannah said, eyeing the place. Snow turned around to see the rest of her family in the apartment. She smiled at them.

"Let's look around," she suggested. "But first." She motioned the potion, taking a sip. She gave it to Hannah next, who was standing next to her.

"That was disgusting." Emma declared, and they all agreed before moving to explore the space. Snow went to the kitchenette and found out it was fully stocked with mostly non-perishable items. There were a few things in the fridge. Obviously they had to be used first.

"This is my room." Hannah called down the narrow hallway. She was standing in a room with a pink canopy over the bed. There was a huge dollhouse in the corner of the room, and several other things suited for a ten year old's entertainment.

"I see Gold prepared for us." Charming said, standing at the doorway and letting out a small laugh.

"It's lovely," Snow couldn't help but imagine the room Hannah would have had at the castle.

"The TV doesn't work." Emma called back from the living room. She was kneeling in front of the tv, fiddling with the buttons. "I mean, the cable doesn't work. But it turns on. It's probably just for the movies." When Emma finished explaining, she rubbed her hand over her temple. Her head was pounding. She closed her eyes and hoped her parents didn't catch it.

"Emma, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Snow said, walking towards Emma worriedly.

"I'm fine," she said coolly. "I just have a minor headache."

"It doesn't look minor. It looks like you're really in pain."

"I'm fine." She snapped. Snow flinched a little at the harshness in her tone.

"We can go back and forth as we please," Charming suggested, "why don't we see if Gold has something that can help? I'll go with you."

"I'll go," Snow said. "Why don't you stay here and settle in with Hannah?" The way she said it was less of a suggestion and more of a plead. Charming nodded reluctantly. It had only been a few moments since they were up there with Gold, but Regina was fast. He knew that. Still, Snow was strong and quick, and she obviously needed to spend time with Emma. Charming didn't want to be the one to fight her on that.

"I don't need to be babysat."

"No one is babysitting you," Snow clarified. Emma rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine. We don't even need to go up there."

"Emma, you got hit in the head with a rock hard enough to knock you unconscious for quite a long time. That doesn't come without consequence. If ignore it, it's only going to intensify. So let's go. You'll feel better." Emma sighed, thinking about how motherly she sounded. She hated to give in.

"Fine."

Snow smiled and gestured toward the door. They walked up the stairs, Emma first.

"Emma..." Snow started.

"I don't want to talk." Emma said, stopping her from continuing.

"I know. I just want you to know I'm here. Whenever you're ready." This was enough to give Emma pause for a moment. But she kept walking, trying to imagine not having this pounding headache anymore.

When they got out of the trap door, the shop looked completely empty.

"Where's Gold?" Emma asked her mother.

"I don't know. That's odd."

"Maybe he's in the front."

"I don't know. If someone sees us..."

"What are they going to do? It doesn't matter. We're living in a safe house. They can't get us there." Emma reasoned, and Snow looked at her doubtfully. She didn't feel good about going out there, but her daughter was in pain. If Gold could help with it, she didn't want to let her fear get in the way.

"Alright. Let me go first." Snow insisted. Emma rolled her eyes at the precaution. Snow walked out, sure enough, to see Gold behind the front counter. "Okay, come," she motioned to Emma.

"How can I help you?" Gold said with a smile. Snow looked at him quizzically.

"Emma has severe pain in her head due to her attack earlier. There could be serious trauma there... can you help?"

"With magic?" Gold specified.

"With... anything." Snow sighed. "If it helps her."

"I think I can be of service," Gold says and waves his hand in the air. It looks careless, like he didn't do anything at all. "How do you feel?"

"Clearer... better. My head isn't even hurting at all. How did you do that?" Even Emma couldn't contain her excitement.

The man starts laughing, almost maniacally, and Snow's smile fades.

"Gold...?"

But in a puff of green smoke, Gold is gone. Where he stood, a man younger, with shabby dark brown hair. _But only the most powerful magic can shapeshift_.

"Jefferson." Snow says, her voice emotionless.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** Here is the last chapter of the weekend update! Hope you guys like the mother/daughter bonding. Next chapter will talk to someone very important and get any answers you might be looking for after this. I'll post it within the week. Reviews always help! I really really love to know what you're thinking after you finish a chapter and this one was a particularly hard one. What you liked/disliked/wanna see/predict. I wanna know it all! And thank you again to every single person who takes the time to read & review this story.

**Warning: This chapter has strong and sensitive content in it. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

"Stay away from my daughter." Snow ordered seeing his hand move up again. She sprung in front of the young blonde woman as a shield. Instinctively, she reached her arm out to protect her. When her hand touched the skin on Emma's arm, though, Snow was suddenly gone.

"Emma?" Snow said, standing next to her daughter in a dark, damp bedroom. There was a little girl that looked about eight or nine years old with thin, wavy blonde hair. She looked emaciated. "Where are we..."

"It's... it's my memory. I don't know how to get out. That man triggered it and I lost control. Every other memory I've just had to wait it out. I've never had someone with me, though... How did you get here?"

"I don't know," Snow admits. "I just touched your arm when I was trying to protect you and I was here."

"But other people have touched me when I was in a memory." Emma counters. Snow starts to shrug, unconcerned, when young Emma looks up from her stance. Snow felt all the color drain out of her face. She was looking straight at her daughter. She was sitting on the floor holding her head between her tiny arms, obviously trying to block out sound. There were two other children in the room, a much smaller girl and one that looked about Emma's age, but they were buried in their beds. There was obviously fighting happening downstairs between two adults, but it seemed distant to Snow. It shouldn't be something Emma had to worry about, but she can see the younger version of her daughter drowning in anxiety.

"Emma... what's going on? Why do you look so worried?" Snow said, taking her eyes off young Emma for only a moment.

"It... it happened every time they fought." Emma said softly, not being able to look up. Snow tried to process what she was saying when a man, who looked about in his mid-fifties, stumbled into the room. He was obviously upset. Snow could see Emma's small face try to hide her fear as soon as he came in. She wanted nothing more to run over, to hug her daughter, to promise her she would save her from this. But she knew she couldn't. And she was never there to save her.

"Hi pretty girl," the man said in a voice that sent shivers up Snow's spine. "Today's a special night, you know why?"

"Because we get to play our game." Emma's voice cracked.

"That's right Princess. Go ahead and take your shirt off and I'll give you a backrub." As Emma obliged, Snow watched the man's hands grope her daughters prepubescent chest.

"That's not a backrub!" Snow cried. "Why is he doing that?" Snow looked at adult Emma, waiting for a response, but she looked paralyzed. She watched it happen, relived it, and she couldn't breathe.

Snow squeezed her daughters hand, her best effort to show her she wasn't alone. But she left her again, watching the man pull down his daughter's underwear, lunging towards him in a desperate attempt to rewrite Emma's past. But she went right through him as if she didn't exist, and she was painfully reminded that this was Emma's story book, and in it, she didn't.

When it was over, the girl that looked about Emma's age came over to huddled Emma in her bed. Now that Snow could see her face, she saw the age in her eyes. She was clearly quite a few years older than Emma, but she was so tiny, her size made her look young. Snow would have guessed she was in her real early teens.

"Emma..." The girl said, putting her hand on Emma's back. Emma flinched at the touch.

"It hurts." She whimpered.

"I know... I know." The girl said, getting in the bed with Emma. "You did so good, though. He barely even looked at Amelia. You did so good," she whispered. Emma turned and nodded, her tears still fresh, and Snow followed both of their gazes to the scared younger girl still wrapped safely in her bed.

"You stayed out in plain sight so he would see you. You endured it to protect her." Snow said, looking at grown-up Emma. Adult Emma had tears that matched the young girl, and Snow, for the first time, let herself recognize the same eyes in the daughter she had come to know and the lost little girl in front of her.

* * *

When Snow and Emma returned to present, they were in Gold's shop, unharmed. There was no one else around, and they had no idea how much time had passed. Emma looked at her mom confused, and Snow shrugged.

"Let's go while we can." She said, ushering her daughter down the stairs to the safe house. They had no idea where Jefferson, Zelena, or Regina were, but neither of them were willing take any chances. The safe house the three of them couldn't enter was the safest place for them to be right now. They walked in to find Charming and Hannah waiting. Both looked overcome with worry.

"She wouldn't go to bed." Charming explained, giving Snow the impression a reasonable amount of time had passed.

"Hannah," Emma said relieved, moving quickly to give her sister a hug. "I missed you."

"Ems, what happened? Did you go somewhere? Were they here?"

"No and no, nowhere. I just missed you," Emma said putting her at ease. She pulled away from the hug and smiled at her little sister.

* * *

"Can we talk?" Emma said slowly, approaching her mom when she was sitting alone. Both her father and sister were already asleep. Snow was surprised at Emma initiating the conversation, but she was grateful. She wanted to talk to Emma so badly about what had happened, but she knew it was too personal to push.

"Of course," Snow replied, proving it by moving over on the couch where she sat. Emma took the cue and sat down.

"About earlier..." Emma started, trying to put her thoughts together. "I didn't. I didn't want you to see that. You didn't need to. I'm sorry."

"Oh Emma," Snow said, the heartbreak in her voice not being well hidden at all. "Please don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. None of this was your fault." Snow waited until Emma was looking in her eyes before reiterating. "It wasn't your fault."

"Mom..." Emma said, the first time using that name. Snow tried to stay focused on what the rest of what Emma was going to say, but she couldn't help but feel a warmness overcome her. "I've been talking to Gold," Emma continued and Snow looked somewhat disapproving. Despite the fact he has helped them, she had a deep-rooted mistrust for him. "Don't worry," Emma says, reading her mom's face. "I was talking to him about what happened. How you came with me to my memory. I've been having them ever since I got to Storybrooke. They've been like nightmares, but worse. I've always had to face them alone. But then you were there with me... Anyway, Gold told me something about it. It happened because it was an act of the truest love... self-sacrificing love. That's how you came with me."

"Oh Emma..." Snow said, putting her hand on Emma's forearm softly.

"It was self-sacrificing love," Emma continued. "It's what you did since the moment I was born. You gave up your family, your life, everything... to give me my best chance. I know my life wasn't exactly a fairy tale, but the only reason I got a life at all was because of how much you loved me. I know you would have come with me if it wasn't for Hannah."

Snow's eyes were watering from Emma's sentiment, but at the last sentence, she looked quizzically at her. "What do you mean? I would have come with you if the wardrobe could have taken two. I would have left Hannah with your father."

"But Hannah's book. Pinocchio went with me. Wasn't that what was decided?"

"What are you talking about?" Snow tried to keep her voice calm. "Blue told me the wardrobe could only take one. I was going to go while I was pregnant, but you and Hannah came early. We had to send you alone. It was the most painful decision I ever had to make."

Emma looked down, realizing her mother never knew anyone else went through. Her mother never chose to protect Hannah over her. She didn't know if the tears came of relief that she could let go of all the anger for her mom she had been harboring since she broke the curse, or guilt at treating her so unfairly. She wrapped her arms around her mother and let her head shrink in her shoulder.

"Mom." This time she said it as a sentence all on it's own. She had nothing else to say, nothing to continue with. She just liked the way the word felt in her mouth.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **hey little explanation before some more action! I posted this a day earlier than I planned to but you know.. it happens. Someone asked about some Charming/Emma bonding after last chapter. I'm not going to promise anything... although I will supply the information that I am working on a chapter to post on fathers day this sunday ;) Now that I'm in the middle of two stores I could really use some reviews! They give me my inspiration for writing!

* * *

Regina had no idea where to go from here. She was sure Jefferson was back at her own house, where Zelena was residing. She couldn't face either of them. Partly because of shame, partly because of fear. Who knew what Zelena would do if Jefferson told her the truth about everything. But then again... she was the one who had control over his daughter. Maybe he would be loyal to her. But Zelena was more powerful than anything she had ever known, and she was almost positive that Jefferson knew she could get Grace back for him if she wanted to. She had a sinking feeling they wouldn't be too happy with her.

"Ms. Mills?"

"Gold?" Regina turned around, her guard up.

"May I ask what you're doing in the woods by the back of my shop?"

"I was walking. Don't concern yourself."

"Ah, but we both know that isn't the case."

"What's it to you anyway?" Regina spat. She had no interest in any heartfelt talks with Rumpelstiltskin.

"It's not. But I know a family that is does concern. And you should talk to them."

"Absolutely not."

"If you ever want Hannah to forgive you, you need to start by explaining yourself."

Regina looked up and down at the Dark One. "When did you get so soft?"

"It's not softness. It's perspective. It was a gift given to me by the love I feel for my daughter."

"Okay," Regina looked him up and down and agreed. "I'll talk to them."

* * *

"Gold put on the light." Charming said to Snow. All four of them were in the living room. Hannah and Emma were on the floor playing tic-tac-toe.

"I don't know," Snow said. "It could be Jefferson, or Regina. I don't know if it's safe."

"We can't hide down here forever. We have to fight for our girls." Charming said, and Snow couldn't disagree. "I'll go first," Charming suggested. "See what it's about. I'll come back down if it's safe... Maybe Gold has a plan."

"What if they hurt you? I can't lose you, Charming. We have a family. We have a ten year old daughter to raise."

At this, Emma and Hannah looked at them, distracted from their game.

"We can't hide down here forever. It's no life to condemn our family too." Charming argued, glancing at their daughters. Snow nodded.

Snow tried to stay calm waiting for her husband to return. She watched the digital clock on the oven. It said it had been three minutes. It felt like at least three hours.

"Snow?" His voice called down the stairs.

"Charming?" She said, rushing to the entry way.

"It's safe. We need to talk... come up. Bring the girls." Snow didn't question it, and neither did Emma or Hannah, who were standing behind their mother.

"What is she doing here?" Emma said, looking at Regina sitting in a wooden chair in the middle of the room. Gold and Charming stood on both sides of her, half turned towards her and half turned towards Snow and the girls.

"She's harmless," Gold explained to Regina's defense. "She just wants to talk." He looked at Hannah. "To you."

"I don't want to talk." Hannah said, crossing her arms. "She tried to hurt me and my family."

"Actually she saved your mom and sister. And she drank a potion to surrender her magic for twenty four hours just to talk to you."

Hannah narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you."

"It's true, Hannah. I just want to explain everything. No more lies. I want you to know everything."

Hannah looked at the woman she had known as her mother for her entire life. All she had ever done was lie to her. She wanted, desperately, to know the truth. "You promise?"

"I promise. Just let me explain."

Hannah looked at her parents and Emma for guidance, but all of them looked like they were leaving the decision to her.

"Okay. But I want to know everything. Don't leave anything out."

Regina nodded and began, "well, I suppose I should start when Snow was pregnant..."

All of them looked at her quizzically, but Regina didn't lose her focus. "She didn't know she was having twins," Regina smiled at Hannah. "She was expecting just Emma. But Rumpelstiltskin knew before Snow was even with child." At this, Snow let out a small gasp. Regina ignored it. "He told me the prophecy before I even cast the curse. I knew the first born would break it. I knew Snow was planning to escape through a wardrobe built by Gepatto... it's why I made Snow go into labor early. When you two were born, I could feel it... I could feel it all the way from my carriage. You two had power that was unfathomable. I thought that if you two were born early... not even Snow White was selfless enough to sacrifice her perfect family to break the curse. I knew she wanted her children more than anything... I... I expected both of you to be there. But when I got there, there was only one baby. You." Regina smiled at Hannah. She wasn't blind to the intent stares from everyone in the family, waiting for more information. "I was going to kill both of you before the curse struck, but Emma got away. Which meant if I killed you, the curse would automatically be broken. So I left you with Snow, for ten years. As a newborn, you were harmless. I had myself believing that there was no way Emma would know to come back. Even when I knew it was hopeless to believe, I forced myself. Truly, I never had any intent of lifting the curse off you and letting you age. I never had any intent for a child. But Gold assured me it wouldn't affect the curse and... I fell in love with you. But you were the one who led Emma back. You were the one who caused the curse to break. I truly do love you Hannah. Despite everything, I love you and I wanted to protect you."

"How could you?" Hannah said.

"Han..." Emma said, reveling in the confession. Both their parents looked completely ashen with the new information. The knowledge that she would have in fact not been raised by Mary Margaret's persona and would have been killed if she had not gone through the wardrobe was actually comforting to Emma.

"Hannah, you knew the gist of this already." Snow tried, but Hannah looked furious. Hannah looked at her mother, her real mother, and softened a little. She was more heartbroken than anything. Despite everything Regina did, she spent ten years with her. She was the only parent she knew. Hearing her confess all of this made Hannah overwhelmed.

"Hannah, I'm so sorry. If I knew who I was doing it to, if I knew that baby would have grown into you... I would take it all back."

"What about Jefferson?" Hannah accused. "Was he working for you or not?"

"Yes," Regina said, looking down. "Myself and Zelena. I'm afraid they're still out there. And they're not happy with me."

"Why not?"

"Your mother saved Snow and Emma," Gold told the ten year old.

"Snow _is_ my mother." Hannah spat. Snow put her hand on Hannah's back and rubbed it comfortingly.

"Jefferson was here when we came up for my headaches," Emma confesses before Hannah figured out she lied to her. "He was going to hurt us. Mom..." Emma said, trying out the word in casual conversation, "Mom, jumped in front of me. I've been having these memory spells and she came with me. When we came back to reality, the shop was empty. We didn't question it... we just went back down to the safehouse."

"Regina followed Jefferson here. She used her magic to fight him off until he went running. She left before you guys woke up." Gold explained. Regina was silent.

"Why would you do that?" Charming asked, turning to Regina.

"All magic comes with a consequence. I didn't want Hannah paying that price, even if the price was losing someone she cares about."

"You did it for me?"

"I would do anything for you." Regina said. The burning in her heart at the idea of her daughter not forgiving her became too much, and tears sprang to her eyes. To her surprise, Hannah reached over and wrapped her arms around Regina's neck. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

"So what next?" Charming asked when Hannah pulled away from Regina. Regina wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself.

"Next... we stop Zelena."


	19. Chapter 19

"Tell us a story now, Ems." Hannah begged, sitting on the floor by the couch. Emma sat on the couch with her father, and Snow sat in a chair facing them. Hannah had convinced them it would be a good idea for Snow and Charming to fill them in on life in the Enchanted Forest, and for Hannah and Emma to fill their parents on their lives before the curse. They knew they had a lot of work to do with Zelena still out there, but for tonight, they were going to enjoy being together and being safe.

"Okay, okay," Emma said, her mom, dad, and sister's eyes on her. Emma tried to recall memories of her childhood, something not too heavy, for her parents sake. "One time, at the foster house I was at when I was four, I took my peanut butter and jelly sandwich outside and started using it to paint the house."

"Paint the house?" Hannah asked.

"Oh dear..." Snow laughed.

"Yeah. The house I was living in was this bright pink color. I didn't like it at all, so I decided to try and change it."

"You sound like you were a mischievous child." Snow says smiling, a hint of sadness imagining how it could have been if she got to watch her grow up, either of her children.

"I was, I guess. But I toned it down as I got older. I kinda had to." Emma admitted.

"Was your foster mom mad?" Hannah asked. "I mean at you covering your house in peanut butter and jelly."

"Actually I think she thought it was cute. She helped me clean it up. But her husband was really mad. It's why I got moved out of that house." Emma said quietly.

"Over that?!" David said in disbelief. "You were just a child, how could he have been that mad to kick you out?"

"He didn't kick me out," Emma says, unsure how much she should say. She didn't want to lie. "I got removed after ending up in the hospital." She tried to make eye contact with her either of her parents so they'd understand and stop pressing it. Unfortunately, the social cues weren't quickly picked up by a ten year old.

"Why were you in the hospital?!" Hannah gasped.

"Well, he was very unhappy with me. When he was yelling, I ended up... I fell down the stairs. I ending up breaking both my legs." Emma explains, partially telling the truth. She only lied about falling. By the look in her mother's eyes, she knew Snow understood.

"Hannah, I think it's time you get ready for bed." Snow said suddenly.

"But mooooooooooooom." Hannah moaned, and even though she was whining, Snow's heart lept a little at the name.

"Hannah." Snow said sternly. Hannah stole a glance at her father, hoping for help. Snow narrowed her eyes at her husband as a warning.

"Sorry bud." He answered, and Hannah groaned extra loudly.

"Whoa there," Emma laughed. "Melodramatic much?"

"Easy for you to say. You're the one who got to grow up."

"Hey. I may not have a bedtime but I would have killed for someone to care that much when I was your age. I'd rather take your place. You get to grow up with two incredibly loving parents now. You're welcome." Emma said the last part half-jokingly. Hannah made a face at her sister before getting up to brush her teeth and get changed.

"Thank you," Snow said quietly, almost nervous.

"For what? You're the one who got her to listen with your motherly tone." Emma said lightly.

"I mean for thinking that we're loving parents... for giving us a chance. You know when Rumple said our first born was going to be the savior I didn't understand... he just kept saying the first born. I didn't even know I was having twins. He knew before me. I'm so sorry it had to be you. I'm sorry for both of you. But you had twenty years of this, you were completely on your own and figuring out the world and I should have been there. You were barely minutes old. You had never done wrong by anyone... you were the most innocent of them all, and you suffered the most. I'm sorry, I don't know where all this is coming from. I just wish you didn't have to go through the things you did," Snow said, her eyes welling up. "I wish it didn't have to be you."

When she finished, Emma put her hand over her mothers trying to comfort her, but Snow quickly saw the discomfort on her face looking behind her. Snow turned around to see Hannah, dressed in a matching pyjama shirt and pant set with tiny pink hearts all over them. She had tears in her eyes and looked absolutely devastated.

"Hannah..." Snow said.

"You wish you could have saved Emma. You wish it was me that went out there all alone. You would have picked Emma over me... she was your firstborn, your first love and I... I was just an unexpected mistake." Hannah ran up the stairs to the room Snow had set up for her, trying to hide the sobs until she was out of earshot. Unfortunately for her, the apartment was small enough where there was no out of earshot. Every sob she let out felt like a dagger in Snow's chest.

"Let me." Emma said, motioning for Snow to sit down. Snow looked unconvinced. "Let me talk to her, I'll get her to come down to talk to you after. Just give us a few minutes."

* * *

"Han," Emma said, opening the door slowly.

"Go away."

"Han, really? You're going to be like that?"

"Shut up!" Hannah yelled, sitting up from her crying face down position. She didn't know where her sudden courage came from. "You don't know what it's like! You're the golden child! I finally was supposed to be reunited with parents who love me but I didn't even realize... I have nothing on the Savior, o mighty one."

"You can't be serious. Do you really think mom and dad love you any less? I'm pretty sure you're what keeps them going. They missed out on raising me but they still have all your teenage years ahead. I think they might be the first parents _excited_ over that. All they ever do is talk about funny things you said or how smart you are."

"Really?" Hannah says, wanting her to continue. She wipes her nose with her sleeve. Emma smiles, wiping her tears near the red line under her eyes that she gets from crying.

"Yes, Han. What Mar-Mom said about not wanting me to have go through it... it had nothing to do with you. She wouldn't have ever put you through it either. You can't tell me you don't know that. And don't tell me you don't notice how they look at you like you put the stars in the sky. You may be ten, but I know you're perceptive."

"They look at you like that, too, you know."

"I know," Emma smiles. "I've noticed."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** Father's Day update! I saw a couple reviews asking for some Hannah/parent time, so I'm thinking the next chapter will be the counterpart to this one, so it will be taken place at the same time but instead of David and Emma it will be what Hannah and Snow were doing! Thanks for the reads/follows/favs/reviews! Emma has a little breakthrough here! And if you haven't yet and you're interested, you should check out my story Wake Me Up! ;)

* * *

"Hi," Hannah said sheepishly when she walked into the kitchenette/living room area. She was holding a card in her hand.

"Hey, Han, did you sleep good?" Snow asked. Her mom was making oatmeal, one of the non-perishables in the cabinet. Emma was eating dry cereal instead, while their father sat staring intently at a cell phone.

"Did you know you can look up anything in the world on this? You just type it in, and the answer comes up."

"Where did you get that?" Snow asks in response to her husband.

"It's mine," Emma supplies. "I didn't know it was such a big deal."

"Well, I didn't know cell phones could be used for things other than calling! And I thought texting was the new hip thing... can you believe it?" Charming asks his wife, his tone was laid-back.

Hannah giggled at her family. She loved Regina but she had never been a part of a family like this before. It was what she dreamed about. Even though Emma had made her feel better and gotten her to go back out and talk to her mom last night, she still felt a little weird getting up this morning. It's why she took so long to leave her room. Usually Emma was the last one up.

"Happy Father's Day," Hannah chirped. "I started working on it before the curse broke. Right before I went to find Emma," Hannah explained, earning confused gazes from everyone in her family. "When I first got the storybook and figured out it was real, I started writing down everything I could remember. I asked Regina too, I told her it was for a school project..."

David opened the card and quickly figured out it was a homemade timeline. It started at Emma and Hannah being born, included the curse, and then was a timeline of events of Hannah's life.

"It's the things you would have known if..." Hannah trailed off, and David nodded. Snow was standing behind him, reading over his shoulder. Both looked emotional, reading about when Hannah took her first steps, her first haircut, her first day of her school.

"Your first word was Mama," Snow said, smiling despite the tears in her eyes.

"Yeah..." Hannah said, shuffling her hand on the back of her neck. She wondered if this was such a good idea. She didn't know it would have that much of an effect on her parents emotions.

"Hey kid," Emma quietly assured Hannah as if she read her mind, "you did good." Hannah smiled gratefully at her older sister. Her dad thanked her again and both parents hugged her. Hannah wondered if Emma had gotten David anything for Father's Day and gave it to him before she woke up, but she was afraid to ask. Besides, everyone had gone back to eating normally.

"What are we doing today?" Hannah asked cheerily, forgetting she ever felt awkward from last night. Both her parents looked like they were hiding something, and Emma stared at her cereal. "What's going on?"

Her dad spoke up first. "I'm going to see Regina today. We're going to discuss our plan of action."

"Okay...," Hannah replied, not understanding the big deal. "When are we leaving?"

"We aren't. Hannah, we know you and Regina have a very special relationship but we just aren't willing to risk it."

"So what? You're going to leave me here alone?"

"Of course not!" Snow answered.

"I'm going alone," Charming clarified. At this, Emma finally looked up in surprise.

"You mean alone as in, with me, right?"

"No... alone, Emma. You're a target, you can't go out there."

"So what, I'm just supposed to hide out here? I'm the Savior, remember? I have to go. I'm probably the only one who can stop whatever they're planning." Charming looked at his daughter, surprised she was willingly taking on the role of the Savior. She looked firm in what she said. He looked at his wife, but she seemed at a loss. He put his face in his hand to think and then looked up.

"Okay, Emma, let's go. Hannah, for your safety, please stay here with your mother. Okay?"

Something about her father's tone made her nod her head. When she thought about it, she really didn't know what Regina would do. She was her mom, and even if she was the Evil Queen, she didn't want to see her doing anything evil.

"We can do something fun, today, Hannah. Today will be good for us." Snow smiled.

* * *

"So where are we meeting Regina?" Emma asked, trailing behind her father.

"Her house."

"Her house? Is that the safest decision to make?"

"Probably not, but we don't really have a choice. It's why I didn't want you here."

"Thanks."

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah."

The rest of the walk to Regina's was done in almost silence. A few people in the town stopped them to ask where they have been. For the most part everything looked the same. Emma realized she had missed the people around the town. When they got to the giant white house, Emma suddenly felt nervous about going in. She tried to picture the Regina in Gold's Shop, tried to replicate those feelings of trust she felt for her in those moments. But for some reason she felt unsafe and scared.

"Stay behind me," Charming ordered his daughter and put his arm out in front of her.

"I'm not a child," Emma countered. "I can take care of myself." This caused him to put his arm down and turn around.

"Really, Emma?"

Emma shrugged, but let her dad guide her through the door.

"Regina. We're here."

"Emma? I wasn't expecting the Savior to accompany us."

"She insisted. She thinks she can stop Zelena."

Regina nodded, as if agreeing. "Perhaps she may be right." At this David looked exasperated, and Emma looked extremely satisfied. They all sat down at Regina's large wooden table. It was much too big for the three of them.

"What do you know?" David asked sternly of Regina. She seemed slightly taken aback at his harsh tone but quickly recovered. She hated it, but she understood her protectiveness.

"Not much," Regina admitted. "I know Zelena wanted both Hannah and Emma, although I'm not sure why. The plan was to get rid of Emma and have Hannah returned to me unharmed," Regina said, glancing up only quickly to see their reactions. "But obviously it didn't work out. I'm not sure what her motivations were. I know she wanted both Emma and Hannah, but besides helping me, I don't know how she benefitted."

"And she definitely would have benefitted somehow."

"Or she wouldn't have helped," Regina agreed with Emma.

"What about Jefferson?" David asked.

"I promised the return of his daughter and memories if he brought both back to me." Regina explained, earning nods from both of them. He seemed easy enough to handle with no evil intentions.

"There is one thing I wanted to mention..." Regina started, getting both of their attention. "There is one way I know of to defeat Zelena."

"Well how do we do it? What do we have to do?" David asked. His tone was impatient. He was ready to fight right now.

"It's not we. It's Emma. And Hannah."

"No."

"Dad..." Emma started. He looked at his daughter, taking in the name coming from her. She was letting him in, but she was warning him not to push too far.

"There has to be another way," David insisted.

"There's not," Regina countered. "At least not one I know of. Emma and Hannah have magic, even though they don't know what to do with it. If I had to guess I would say Zelena may have wanted to get rid of both Emma and Hannah because she knew they were the only ones that could stop her."

"You have magic." David reminded her.

Regina's face fell at this truth. "Yes, but it is dark. Light magic is what can defeat Zelena. Emma and Hannah were the product of true love... their magic is light magic."

"I can do it. On my own." Emma said sternly. "Hannah doesn't need to be brought into it."

Regina nodded. "I think you can, actually."

"This can't be happening," David said. "There has to be another way."

"You should go home," Regina suggested. "Talk to Snow about it. How about you come back here Friday, both of you. By that time I hope I'll have figured out exactly what Zelena is trying to do. We don't have much time. Zelena is still planning something against both of your daughters, and from what I saw of her, not much can stop her."

Charming didn't feel like he had much of a choice at this point. Emma was standing up from her chair already. He hated the idea of telling his wife about this information. Emma was the only one who could stop Zelena, but how could they let Emma sacrifice her own well-being?

"Are you hungry?" Charming asked as Emma walked out the door in front of him.

"Kinda," she admitted. "I could really go for some perishable foods."

* * *

When they walked into Granny's, it seemed like the whole town was in there.

"Long time no see! How have you guys been?" Granny asked from behind the counter.

"Great. Just trying to safe," Charming answered in the tone of a King. "I hope you all have been doing the same?"

"Of course. Although the wicked witch has been nowhere to be found. Have you figured out who it is?"

"Actually, yes. It's Zelena."

"Zelena? You're kidding? She was so harmless."

Charming nodded understandingly at her shock. "I'm afraid not, though."

"Well, at least now we know. We'll figure it all out. Meanwhile, why don't you get a booth and Red will bring you menus."

"Great, Granny. Thank you." Charming said, bowing his head a little to show gratitude. Emma nodded timidly and followed her dad to the booth.

"So what do you feel like?" He asked Emma, once they both had a menu in their hands.

"I dunno, man, everything looks so good when you've been eating out of only boxes for awhile."

After they ordered, they sat in silence for a few moments, both trying to think of what to say.

"Emma, about today..."

"Don't."

"Listen, we have to talk about it."

"I know you don't want me to do it because you don't think I'm strong enough but I'm-"

"Is that really what you think, Emma?"

"Why else wouldn't you want me to? If you thought I could handle it you'd have no problem."

"That's not true at all. Do you know how much strength it's taking me just to not wring that guys neck at the counter? I know very well you could handle him yourself, but the fact that he keeps looking at you like you're a piece of meat makes me want to kill him." David admitted. Emma, embarrassed, looked down so the red in her cheeks wouldn't be so obvious. "I know how strong you are. I've known from the first moment I held you and put you in that wardrobe. But that doesn't mean I never want you to be in a situation where you have to use that strength. I'm your father... it's my job to protect you."

"Yeah, well..." Emma started.

"I know. I know for twenty years I failed you. But that doesn't give me an excuse to give up now, does it?" David waited for Emma to respond, so she shrugged her shoulders and looked down again. It was hard for her to make eye contact during such a heavy conversation. "A parent isn't for the first eighteen years. It's for their entire life."

At this, Emma looked up. She had never thought of it like that. In the foster system, family ended at age 18 and you were on your own. After that any small hope of finding her parents were diminished by the assurance to herself she didn't need them anymore. But maybe she was wrong about that. Maybe David was right.

"Thank you," she said softly, as Red placed the plates of food on the table.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **Here's Snow and Hannah's day! Sorry it took a little longer than usual. I'm writing another story and in the process of another big writing project plus I had a bit of writers block on this story. Hope you guys like it! Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

* * *

"So Hannah,' Snow started, "what do you have in mind?"

"I dunno," Hannah answered, looking at her mom from over the counter.

"Well, I'll admit we don't have the most options. But we can find something fun."

"I guess."

"Is something wrong?" Snow wondered. She didn't know Hannah to be the cold type. Usually she was cheery, excited to be around her and Charming. She was so much easier than Emma. Snow supposed she took advantage of Hannah in that respect.

"No, I just. I guess I thought we'd all spend Father's Day together. It's my first..." Hannah said, trailing off at the end. Snow thought she heard her say it's her first father's day with a father, but she didn't know if she was just filling in the blanks with what seemed to make sense. Either way, she got the jist of what Hannah was feeling.

"I know. I'm sorry, Hannah. Your father would have loved to spend this entire day with you."

Hannah nodded, then looked up, ready to change the subject. "So what _can_ we do without leaving this place?"

"Well..."

"How about something fun? Like an indoor olympics?"

"An indoor olympics? I'm not sure I know what that entails."

"It's like sports but inside. Hmm, we could do a marble relay, frog jump, hot air balloon race, balance beam, discus throw... all sorts of things."

It sounded like foreign language to Snow. "Okay, but you'll have to explain it."

"First... we should make cookies," Hannah declared, then reasoned with her mom. "We're going to be hungry after the _Olympics."_

She didn't really need to defend her point. Snow had milk that needed to be used and time to be spent with her daughter.

Hannah was on the duty of mixing the dry ingredients, while Snow prepared the wet ones. Measuring out baking powder, baking soda, flour, and sugar. She added the flour last because it was her favorite. It made her feel like a real chef when it got all over her and the counter. The recipe called for one cup, which was perfect because Hannah didn't have to worry about measuring it. She just had to fill the cup to the top and pour it in. She didn't look twice until after it was done, to know that the measuring cup was two cups instead of one. She panicked slightly and wondered if it would be noticeable. She didn't want to tell her mom, because she wanted her mom to trust her to do this again. She combined the dry ingredients as fast as possible and decided not to tell her and hope for the best. As expected, the flour got all over her shirt and the counter, and as expected, she felt like a real chef. Her mother seemed to understand.

"Chef Hannah, is your dish prepared?" Snow said professionally.

"Why yes it is, Chef Mom, it is prepared for the big mixer," Hannah giggled, despite her efforts at a straight face. Snow caved a little at the sound Hannah's laugh. Snow looked at the hole in the middle Hannah had created in the dry mix for the wet ingredients and was satisfied with it. She mixed the both of them, because it was the hardest part. Hannah scooped the dough into balls on to the pan while Snow started cleaning up the kitchen.

"How long is it gonna be?" Hannah asked.

"I'll put the timer on for 30 minutes," Snow answered. "Then we'll see."

"Okay, just enough time to set up for the Olympics. I'll explain as we go," Hannah assured. "We need tape, balloons, marbles and paper plates. Do we have that?"

"I'm not sure about the balloons."

"I guess we can skip that one," Hannah decided. "For the tape, we need to make two straight lines in the living room."

After Hannah was satisfied with the two lines, she decided they should start with marble race.

"This is how we do it: We each put a marble on our feet and we have to walk to the other side of the line without it falling on the floor. The first person on the other side wins. Okay?"

"Sounds fair," Snow agreed. "But just so you know, I'm a marble toe walking expert."

"That's not a real thing," Hannah said, rolling her eyes.

"Or is it?"

Hannah looked a little suspicious handing her mom her two marbles, questioning what she did in her old life. It was a close race, mainly because neither of them could stop laughing at the weird walk they had to do to keep the marbles from falling off their feet.

"You look like you have to pee!" Hannah exclaimed, falling over herself from losing her balance at the amount of laughter erupting from her body. The snowball effect ensued, causing Snow to stumble too at the sight.

By the time they had finished, and Hannah won the close battle, Snow checked on the cookies. They still had 1 minute left, which was perfect timing, really. She cracked open the oven a little to peek at them and immediately saw what was off.

"Uh oh," Snow said, sparking Hannah's attention. "I think our cookies didn't work out so well." They were dry and crumbly and not really holding together. You could almost see the memory return to Hannah and the accumulation of guilt crush her.

"I'm sorry," Hannah with the crack of a voice that was about to cry. "I messed them up, I added too much flour. I just didn't want you to be mad and I thought-"

"Hannah, did you really think I'd be mad?"

"I got to mix all the dry ingredients and I was afraid you'd never let me do it again," she confessed.

"That's silly," Snow assured her. "Life is made in the mistakes, Hannah. We'll never stop making them. But it's important that we don't, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because if we did, we would stop learning. And that's much, much worse than a little bit of extra flour." Snow said, putting her arm around Hannah and tapping her nose with her pointer finger.

"Let's try one," Hannah suggested, and both moved towards the counter scooped up a crumbling ball of cookie in their palm and lifted it to their mouth.

"Hmmm."

"Mmmm, it's pretty good, still," Hannah declared.

"I agree. Maybe we found a new recipe," Snow said light-heartedly.

"A new _family_ recipe," Hannah added, satisfied. She ate another ball of cookie before stating they should get back to their olympics. "Next is the frog jump. I think you'll really love this one."

"I'm taking you down," Snow challenged and Hannah smiled, knowing she wouldn't.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Hey! I'm sorry for the wait! Truthfully I got really wrapped up in my other story Wake Me Up and a personal writing project that I've made tremendous progress on. I'm feeling really satisfied and I was thinking it's time for this story to have an update. Thanks for all your patience! Don't forget to review! (I have to say, they do help with quicker updates)

* * *

"Are you going to tell her?" Emma asked David with a hint of nervousness. They were walking in to Gold's shop back to the safehouse. She hadn't really thought about it until they were almost there, but she didn't know how her mom or Hannah would react.

"Well we aren't going to keep it from her."

"I know that... it's just..."

"Your mother can be... hard."

"I don't want her to flip out. If she was still Mary Margaret it would be different."

"I understand. But she has to know." David opened the door that lead to the stairs and ushered Emma down first. As soon as Emma walked in, both Snow and Hannah rushed over to her side. Hannah engulfed her in a hug.

"Hey kid."

"What happened? How was it? Tell me everything." Hannah begged with pleading in her eyes.

"Slow down," David laughed coming up behind Emma. "I'm sure Emma is exhausted. We can talk about it all, as a family, tomorrow."

Hannah groaned, but Emma gave her a little push to their rooms. Any excuse not to talk about it, she would take.

Snow watched her daughters close the doors to their room before speaking. "So?"

"I thought we were discussing it tomorrow."

"Come on," Snow said, giving him a little shove. "What did she say?"

"That's not very fair to Hannah," David tried again.

"David."

"Okay, okay. Regina gave us some... news."

"News? What kind of news?"

"Zelena is after both our girls, and no one has figured out why yet. Not even Regina. She thinks it might be because they're the only ones who can stop her."

"Only ones?" Snow seemed to choke on the words.

David only nodded. "Regina said the only way to stop her is with light magic. Which both Emma and Hannah have... even though they don't know how to use it yet."

"No, no. There must be other people with light magic in this stupid town! There has to be!" David eyed the hallway where the girls were, and Snow knew she was being too loud. She nodded to signify she understood. She lowered her voice before continuing. "What does she know about Zelena?"

"Just that she's powerful. More powerful than Regina."

"And you want to let our girls take her on?"

"That's the thing. It's not our girls. Emma said she wanted to leave Hannah out of it, and Regina said that's plausible. She thinks Emma would be strong enough to stop her because she's the savior."

"We can't let Emma take her own on her own. We can't."

"What choice do we have, Snow? She's not going to stop until someone stops her or she gets what she wants. Either way, Emma is in danger."

Snow shook her head, causing the tears welling up in her eyes to fall out. "I can't, David. I just got her back. I can't lose her again."

* * *

"What are they talking about?" Hannah said, lying on her back horizontally across Emma's bed.

"I don't know." Emma was disinterested in this conversation, hoping Hannah would get the hint and drop it.

"Yes you do."

"So what if I do? If they wanted you to know, Han, you'd be out there."

"That's not fair! Everyone gets to know what's going on me but me!"

"Maybe there's a reason for that!" Emma sat up in her bed to lean over Hannah. "You're ten years old, kid. You're not supposed to know everything. Sometimes it's better not to know. It's safer."

"I can handle it," Hannah defends. "I saved you from the madman."

"I know you did," Emma sighed. "How about we do something else? Something fun?"

"Okay. Like what?"

"What do you want to do?"

Hannah thought on it. "How about a makeover? I can do your hair and paint your toes and hands and everything! I have all the stuff in my room. I'll be right back." Hannah declared it before Emma could respond, so any objections wouldn't be accounted for. Emma sighed and fell on her back again.

Who would have thought all those times Emma had wished for a fairytale family as another kid younger than her got driven off with their new adopted parents, she'd actually get it. In the most literal sense of the word.

"I'm back. Hands or toes first?"

"Umm. Toes." Emma figured Hannah might get tired of it before she got to her fingers, and toes were less likely to be seen. She'd occasionally had her nails red or black before, but not often, and definitely not bright pink or purple or orange.

"Kay. I'm gonna do a design, okay?"

"You know how to do that?"

"Uh yeah. Who doesn't?"

"A lot of people don't know how to do that!" It was a mix of being incredulous and slightly defensive of her lack of ability.

"Oh," Hannah shrugged. "I guess I had a lot of time at hom- Regina's."

"It's okay to call it home, you know," Emma said softly. "You've lived there your entire life. It wasn't your fault."

Hannah nodded. "I know. I just- it's just that it doesn't feel right. I mean I'm glad I got to grow up, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't feel right that Regina stole me from Mom. She didn't give me up or anything... Regina just took me. And I know it was a terrible thing to do, but she was still my mom for ten years and I feel bad for not hating her."

"Han, you can't feel bad for that. You didn't ask for Regina to take you."

"I know," Hannah said, looking down at Emma's toes.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I don't hate her either."

"You don't?" Hannah said, losing her focus on painting Emma's big toe glitter purple.

"No," Emma smiled. "How could I? And I bet Mar-Mom and Dad don't either. I'm sure they would have loved to raise you, both of us, but I don't think any of us would be willing to give up the Hannah we know and love now to get that."

"You think so?"

"I really do, Han. You shouldn't feel bad. And Regina... she's going to help us defeat Zelena."

"She is?"

"Yeah," Emma said, realizing she shouldn't talk about it too much right now. "She is. But we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Right," Hannah accepted. "Do you mind if we finish the makeover another night? I'm sort of tired."

Emma smiled at her bare fingernails. "Sounds like a deal."

* * *

"Hannah?"

"Oh, hi," Hannah turned around in surprise. "I'm sorry, I know I should be sleeping. I just-"

"Couldn't sleep?" David finished.

"Yeah."

"It's okay. Me either. Do you want some hot chocolate?"

"Okay," Hannah agreed softly.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?" David stood over the counter and poured hot chocolate powder into two mugs.

"Life," Hannah sighed, and her father let out a genuine laugh.

"Life?"

"I guess, everything. I just wish I knew what was going on. I know I'm only ten, I know that, but things have been spinning kind of out of control for me too. I just want to know what's going on."

"I know, Han. We were just trying to protect you."

"I know, Dad."

David softened at the term. They were doing what they thought was best, but they were new at the whole 'being parents' thing. Maybe they weren't right this time. Hannah had been through a lot for someone her age.

"Regina knows how to stop Zelena. The only force more powerful than Zelena's is light magic." As soon as David finished his sentence, the teapot started whistling, catching both David and Hannah off guard. David looked alarmed, but Hannah continued.

"So we can stop her? That's good news! Why didn't you guys want to tell me that?"

"It's a lot of information to process. We'll talk about it more tomorrow," David poured the hot water into the mugs.

"Thank you... for telling me. For treating me like a person instead of some fragile little child."

"Hannah, nobody wants to treat you like a fragile little child. It's just because we love you so much, we don't want you to know the world has anything bad to offer... but I guess it's too late for that, huh?"

Hannah looked at her father, seeing how sad he looked made her realize that he was blaming himself.

"Daddy, it wasn't your fault."

David's eyes welled up with tears, he couldn't help himself. "It is, Hannah. I should have protected my family. But I'm here now, and I won't let anything happen to any of my girls ever again."

Hannah walked around the counter to give her father a hug and giggled. "I think Mom and Emma can take care of themselves. But they'll appreciate the thought."


	23. Chapter 23

Emma woke up, surprised at her surroundings. It took her a few moments of looking around to remember where she was. She rolled over, remembering, hoping to fall back asleep. There wasn't much to do all day except talk to her family about things she didn't really want to talk about, so she'd prefer to kill a few more hours with sleep if she could.

Unfortunately, she was wide awake. She grunted, annoyed that she could never wake up this fast when she needed to be somewhere. She wondered if Hannah would wake her up, and figured she would eventually. Yawning, she got out of bed to brush her teeth. She had a disgusting taste in her mouth, and outside her door seemed quiet. Normally she could hear the idle sounds of everyone, so she hoped they would still be asleep.

"Emma!" Snow said, looking up as soon as Emma walked down the hallway. Snow, David, and Hannah were all sitting silently on the couch. They looked creepy and disturbed.

"What's going on?" Emma said slowly, raising her eyebrows.

"We were waiting for you!" Hannah supplied, getting up and walking towards her.

"...why? You could have woken me."

"We thought about it. No one wanted to take that risk," Hannah whispered, now close enough for Emma to hear.

Emma yawned again and rolled her eyes. "Let me brush my teeth before we do anything, okay?" She was already moving towards the bathroom, but she could see all three of them nodding from the corner of her eye. Hannah was already returning to her spot on the end of the couch.

Emma deliberately took a long time, cleaning her teeth with extra care. It felt like an intervention was being prepared in the living room, and she wasn't anxious to deal with it. She suddenly missed her lonely apartment, her lonely life that she abandoned.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Emma sighed, sitting in the chair across from the fully occupied couch.

"Emma." David started, and his tone of voice told her everything.

"You told her!" Emma exclaimed, looking from him to Snow.

"Of course he did!" Snow defended. "This is no secret to keep."

"Told her what?" Hannah asked. "About light magic?"

"That I'm going to stop Zelena," Emma answered without thinking.

"What?!" Hannah exclaimed, causing both David and Snow to look down and Emma to look on in confusion.

"You didn't tell her yet..." Emma realized.

"No, we were waiting for you," David explained.

"Hannah..." Snow began, but was cut off.

"No! Don't sugarcoat it! Don't leave anything out! Why won't you guys stop lying to me?" Hannah stood up when she yelled, and looked at David as sadness and disappointment overshadowed her anger. "Telling me only a partial part of the truth is still lying," Hannah clarified, and sat down, tears forming in her eyes. Emma watched her try to swallow her tears and felt a pang in herself. She had perfected the art of pretending she didn't care, something she would never want for Hannah. For the first time since Hannah found her, she felt like an older sister.

"Hey kid," Emma said, getting up to kneel by Hannah, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you right away. We were going to tell you everything today though, I promise. We weren't planning to keep anything from you."

"I don't believe you," Hannah sniffled and didn't make eye contact. She didn't want to act like a big baby, but she was hurt. She wished she could talk to Danielle about it.

"Fair enough," Emma sighed, holding Hannah's hand in her own. "But we were. And I promise you, on this purple glitter nail polish on my toes, that I won't ever keep anything from you again. If I know, you know."

"You promise?"

"I swear to you," Emma said, holding out her pinky finger. Hannah smiled reluctantly, but took it and shook on it.

"You're going to fight her all on her own?"

"It won't be that bad," Emma assured her, feeling like she already broke her promise of not lying.

"I'm scared for you," Hannah said quietly. "I want to help."

Emma took a deep breath and looked at Snow and David. She had just promised not to lie to Hannah, but she knew if she told her she had the capability of helping she would find a way to go with Emma.

"Do you believe in me?"

"What?"

"I mean, that's why you came and found me, right? You said I was going to save you guys. You said I was the only one who could, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah-yeah. Of course I believe in you, Emma. You're my big sister."

"Then trust me on this. You are helping by taking care of Mom and Dad." Despite Emma's discomfort with the words, it got a smile out of Hannah, and both David and Snow looked at each other with a glow in their eyes.

"Emma," Snow started, trying to focus on what she had planned to say. "We have to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Emma said brusquely. "I'm hungry. Is anyone else?" She made her way to the kitchen area, and pulled out bread to make toast. She was sick of oatmeal.

"Emma," David called, following her, with Snow and Hannah closely behind.

"Look, I know you said you still want to be my parent even when I'm 20, and I appreciate that. I think you guys are great. But it's better for all of us if you put your efforts into Hannah. I'm still getting used to this family thing, but getting told what to do... it never worked for me. You guys can save yourselves the trouble."

"Emma, don't," David pleaded, making his hushed voice quieter. Emma looked over his shoulder to check if Snow and Hannah were in earshot yet. They weren't if Emma whispered.

"I've already thought about it," Emma muttered quickly. "I'm going to find a way to stop Zelena and then I'm going to go home."

David didn't get a chance to respond to the bomb Emma just dropped, because the conversation was ended with Snow and Hannah joining them at the counter.

* * *

"Are you ready, Miss Swan?"

"Yeah," Emma said, half-heartedly.

"Pay attention then," Regina ordered. "Magic is not an easy concept to grasp. It takes patience, and skill. You won't have the chance to master it, but at least you can maintain some control."

"Okay, what do I have to do?" Emma asked.

"Let's start with something simple. Fire."

"That's simple?"

"Yes, Miss Swan," Regina said, irritated. "Hold your hands out. Place your right hand over your left palm." Emma followed instructions. "Now think about warmth, of fire. Think of all the details of fire that you can. The cackling sound, the feeling of it on your skin, everything. The clearer your picture is, the better the magic turns out."

Emma nodded, picturing fire as best as she could. "Nothing's happening."

"You need to concentrate."

"I am."

"Clearly not well."

"I can't do this. I should just go home now."

This caused Regina to scrunch her eyebrows in confusion. "You wouldn't do that," she stated, matter of factly.

"You don't even know me," Emma scoffed.

"I know your parents. I know where you came from. And I know you wouldn't just leave, because that would leave the burden on Hannah's shoulders."

Emma sighed. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"I'm afraid none of us ever do," Regina admitted.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"When you can make fire, you can ask questions."

Emma narrowed her eyes, but out of defeat focused her attention on her hands. She tried to think of the last time she saw a fire.

She could feel the smoke in her lungs, overtaking her breathing. She gasped for air, but it felt like she was suffocating. The grey covered her eyes, blocking her vision. She squinted, looking for a source of light. The bright orange in this distance provided her with it, so she stared towards the light. She could feel waves of heat attacking her, as if warning her to back away. She remembered the smell, the burning, the fear, the power within the little flames. How big they had grown just because they had the space to do it.

She wasn't just remembering the heat, she could feel it. In her left palm.

"I did it! I did it! I made fire out of nothing!"

"Congrats, Miss Swan."

"Thank you!" Emma closed her hand into a fist, causing the fire to disappear. She widened her eyes into amazement. "Now my question."

"Fine, go ahead," Regina agreed reluctantly.

"When and if I do come head to head with Zelena... what- what are my chances?"

To Emma's surprise, Regina looked down when she asked the question. She opened her mouth and closed it before actually responding.

"I'm afraid that they are... not so great. There is a very real possibility that using your magic while still being so untrained could drain the life straight out of you. There is a chance you won't survive it, even if you defeat her."

Emma bit her lip, a quick habit she learned to keep it from quavering when she felt like she was going to cry.

"Okay," she nodded and swallowed it down, because she didn't know what else to do with this information.


End file.
